Diagram: Literacy
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Familiar Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Genre, Mode, Affordances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Immersion Into Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Integrated Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Other Key Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Continuity from Secondary Cycle One to Secondary Cycle Two . . . . . 3
Differentiation in the Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Making Connections: SELA2 and the Other Dimensions of the QEP 4
Connection With the Broad Areas of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Connections With the Cross-Curricular Competencies . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Connections With the Other Subject Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
How the Three Competencies of the SELA2 Program Work Together . . 5
Integrated Teaching-Learning-Evaluating (TLE) Context . . . . . . . . . 6
Development of Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
A Literate Learning Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Opportunities for Integrated Reading and Production . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Role of the Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Working With Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Monitoring the Development of Critical Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Integrated TLE Context: Keys to Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Repertoire of Required Genres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Diagram: Competency 1 Talk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Competency 1 Uses language/talk to communicate and to learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Focus of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Thumbnail Sketch of the Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Key Features of Competency 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Evaluation Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
End-of-Cycle Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Development of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Program Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Diagram: Competency 2 Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Competency 2 Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Focus of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Thumbnail Sketch of the Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Key Features of Competency 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Evaluation Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
End-of-Cycle Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Development of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Program Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Diagram: Competency 3 Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Competency 3 Produces texts for personal and social purposes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Focus of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Thumbnail Sketch of the Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Key Features of Competency 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Evaluation Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
End-of-Cycle Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Development of the Competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Program Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Appendix: Terms and Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Selected Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts

– Repertoire of written, spoken and media texts
– Stategies and processes
– Experiences, history, values and system of beliefs
– Meanings that are socially and culturally designed, produced and interpreted
– Representations of people, gender, race, events, information, attitudes, beliefs
– Structure, Mode(s) Codes, Conventions
– Meanings that are socially and culturally designed, produced and interpreted
– Situations that integrate the Talk,
Reading and Production competencies
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts

Uses language/talk to c ommuni c ate and to learn
Se co nd ar y re a r e
En gl ish
Reads and listens
La ng ua ge
Art s
La ng ua ge s
Ma them
CO
M
PETEN
CIE
S
Uses creativity
INT
E
LL
EC
T
U AL
Exercises critical judgment gy
Adopts
M
ETH
OD
OL
OGIC
effective
Solves problems
Uses information
Health and
Well-Being
work methods
Personal and
Career Planning
Uses
AL
Soc
CO
M
P
ETE
NC
I ial
E
S
information
Construction of to written, spoken student’s identity
Construction
and
communications
technologies and media texts
Sc ie nc es of student’s
Citizenship and
world-view
O
C Community
D ev elo
M
M
U
N
I
C
A
T
I pm
Communicates appropriately
O
N
-
RE
L
A
TE
D ent
COM
P
ET
E
N
C Y
Life
Empowerment
Media
Literacy
Environmental
Awareness
and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
Cooperates with others
PER
S ON
AL A
ND
Achieves his/her potential
T
EN
CI
E
S
C
OM
PE
SO
C IA
L
Ar ts
Ed uc at io n
Aims of the QEP
Broad Areas of Learning
Cross-Curricular Competencies
Subject Areas
Subject-Specific Competencies in Secondary English Language Arts
Québec Education Program
Produ c es texts for personal and so c ial purposes

The Secondary English Language Arts program for Cycle Two (SELA2) is first and foremost a literacy program. As such, it prepares students to make intellectual and aesthetic judgments, raise questions, articulate their thoughts and respect the ideas of others. The noted Brazilian educator Paulo
Freire described literacy as knowing how to “read the word and the world.”
Language is both a means of communicating feelings, ideas, values, beliefs and knowledge, and a medium that makes active participation in democratic life and a pluralistic culture possible. In order for our students to develop literacy in a world of rapid social, cultural and technological change, we need to take the time to connect learning about the social
SELA2 is a literacy program that focuses on fluency in the reading and production of spoken, written and media texts.
purposes of language to the worlds of all the students we teach, so that they understand language-learning as the development of a repertoire of essential strategies, processes, skills, knowledge and attitudes. These are the
“basics” that make it possible for students to continue to learn throughout their lives–the foundation of literacy. For this reason, the SELA2 program is grounded in the language, discourse and genres that our students encounter in the world and focuses on the development of fluency in the reading and production of spoken, written and media texts.
The goal of any literacy program must be to provide opportunities for students to experience the power of language as a way of making sense of their experience and of breaking down the barriers that separate individuals.
This program provides students with the opportunity to develop language competencies that respond to the realities of diverse situations, as well as the interpersonal and communication strategies that they require in order to become active, critical members of society. Drawing on a wide range of traditional, modern and contemporary texts, SELA2 also fosters an appreciation of a rich literary and cultural heritage.
Québec Education Program Languages
The SELA2 program addresses a series of issues and concerns raised by our community since 1980. As such, it both revises and extends the content and orientations of its predecessor, the Secondary English Language Arts I to V program. In turn, there are several familiar elements: writing, responding to and interpreting texts as processes of making meaning; collaborative learning as a means of cultivating a community within the classroom; learning-bydoing (i.e. rather than by hearing about it); learning in contexts or situations that are relevant and developmentally appropriate; and an orientation that honours the principles of pedagogical differentiation and inclusion.
In the SELA2 program, specific spoken, written and media texts are studied as genres. The traditional definition of genre has been extended to include social purposes and functions, so that students learn not only the structures and features (i.e. mode, codes and conventions) of specific genres, but also the inherent social messages and meanings they carry. As well, the SELA2 program promotes the reading and the production of those texts that fall into the category of multigenre, since they combine two or more genres into a single text.
Word, sound and image are different modes of representation used in the communication process. Each mode of representation has its own codes and conventions,
Word, sound and image have their own specific codes and conventions, or grammar. That is to say, there are specific grammars associated with media and spoken texts, as well as with or grammar.
written texts. When texts combine modes of representation, as is true of feature stories in newspapers which combine word and image, they are said to be multimodal. The SELA2 program promotes the reading and production of multimodal texts, as well as those that feature a single mode of representation, such as conventional written texts.
› 1
Chapter 5
Secondary English Language Arts

Finally, given the focus in the SELA2 program on literacy, students are expected to exercise their understanding of different genres and modes by working in contexts that require them to select the genre and mode that best suit the demands of a specific context. In order to do this with any degree of success, they must draw upon their knowledge of what different genres and modes “afford,” in terms of the “fit” between a given genre, or mode, and the meaning(s) or message(s) they wish to communicate. The decisions students make in a given context, or situation, also draw on their understanding of the connection between a text and its social function, i.e.
how it is used in school, in the workplace, or in society. Also, the student who has developed control of different modes and genres may adapt a particular genre or mode to a novel purpose, such as selecting journal entries to reveal the inner workings of a character as s/he attempts to resolve a conflict. This concept–that different genres and modes offer distinctive potentials, or possibilities, in a given context–is referred to as the affordances 1 of a genre or a mode.
In order to provide extensive opportunity for students to explore the affordances of different genres and modes, the writing and media competencies of the Cycle One program have been integrated into a single
Production competency in SELA2. This step is also necessary in light of the rapid evolution of the types of texts we encounter in all aspects of our daily lives. Our students need to learn to distinguish the affordances of print as well as to select modes or combinations of modes that best suit their own production intentions and the demands of a given context. It has long been accepted that reading-writing connections enhance literacy development and
SELA2 promotes reading-production connections for this reason.
The SELA2 program extends several concepts that were introduced in Cycle
One. Literacy involves the conscious application of strategies, processes and knowledge: immersion into texts promotes conversations about specific genres and how they work. As students engage in an inquiry process to discover the connection between the codes and conventions of a text and
1. See also Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age .
Québec Education Program its meaning(s), they learn that every text is a deliberate, social construct. As they consider how a writer persuades a reader, they learn that meanings are designed with very specific intentions in mind. Immersion into texts appears in each of the three competencies of SELA2 since it is an essential step in the development of literacy.
The Integrated Profile is the heart of the SELA2 program and is designed to document evidence of the development of competency. As stated in the introductory chapters of the Québec Education Program
(QEP), the development of competency takes place over time as students work with different content and resources
A “moving portrait” of literacy development.
in increasingly demanding contexts. The Integrated Profile is a “moving portrait” of students’ learning throughout Cycle Two. It is integrated insofar as it contains evidence of students working in contexts where the language arts are integrated, i.e. where the three competencies of the SELA2 program are called upon in an integrated way. Although the actual form the profile takes is at the discretion of the teacher, the profiles are organized and maintained by the students. This task is also connected to their learning about how to work with information-based texts, in which students’ own texts represent information about their learning. The content of the Integrated Profile also corresponds to evaluation instruments the teacher intends to use, such as rubrics that describe different levels of competency development. Possible forms of an Integrated Profile include a collection of integrated projects; a folder that includes a range of evidence about a student as a reader and producer of spoken, written and media texts; and a portfolio.
The Integrated Profile is described in detail in the Program Content section of Competency 1 (Talk): Integrated Profile: Showing the Competencies in
Action. It is a vital feature of the dialogue between the teacher as a literacy expert and the student, and is an essential resource in the development of competency. In the latter instance, it should be noted that the capacity to use self-evaluation as a means of monitoring one’s own learning is characteristic of competent behaviour. This metacognitive skill develops in contexts where individuals are asked to articulate the processes and
› 2
Chapter 5

strategies they have used to accomplish a specific task. When such opportunities are provided on a regular basis, students become more conscious of their strengths and those areas that need more work. In other words, these conversations about learning foster student autonomy and the development of literacy. For this reason, the Integrated Profile and the student-teacher conferences in which they are examined play an essential role in the SELA2 program.
In addition to these elements, the program also includes specific reading and production strategies that promote competency: the notion of the reader’s stance; the opportunity to read young adult and traditional literature, as well as popular and information-based texts; emphasis upon the structures, features, codes and conventions of specific genres, including those that convey information; and the production of multimodal texts. The
SELA2 program promotes the importance of reading and production to develop personal interests, as well as for pleasure and to learn; the use of technology in reading and producing texts; enrichment in the form of extended activities, such as literary festivals; classroom drama as an interpretive and problem-solving strategy; and formal occasions for selfevaluation as a means for students to monitor their progress, reflect on their learning and establish future learning goals.
The SELA2 program is part of a learning continuum that began with the
Elementary English Language Arts program (EELA) and continues through the Secondary English Language Arts program for Cycle One (SELA). Both the EELA and SELA programs focus on literacy, i.e. competency in reading, writing and the media, and in the use of talk to communicate and to learn.
Throughout the last three years of secondary education, the SELA2 program concentrates on the consolidation of the essential strategies, processes, knowledge and abilities that support lifelong learning.
Students arriving in Cycle Two have developed reading, interpretive, writing, production and collaborative strategies appropriate for their age and for
Québec Education Program Languages their stage of cognitive and social development. At the beginning of Cycle
Two, teachers should expect the majority of their students to still be most competent with narrative genres. As well, students are used to drawing on their own experiences and knowledge to make sense of different kinds of texts, and have developed a literacy profile that includes reading and production preferences, familiarity with a modest range of different genres, collaborative skills and processes for responding to and producing texts, and an initial understanding of working with information-based texts.
2 Students expect their Cycle Two teachers to appreciate these prior experiences and to value matters of personal choice with regard to reading material and the content of the texts they produce. A familiar audience of family, friends and peers was the focus for writing and production in both the EELA and SELA programs; in Secondary Cycle Two, students learn to move gradually from a familiar audience to those audiences that are found in a more public landscape and in which there is a greater distance between writer/producer and audience.
Any literacy program must be created with a range of students in mind. In the SELA2 program, the balanced nature of the three competencies makes it possible for
With its emphasis on spoken, written and media texts, SELA2 offers teachers many teachers to accommodate the varied needs, interests, abilities and learning styles of all the students they teach.
ways of differentiating instruction.
Indeed, the principles of differentiation lie at the heart of the QEP. When teachers differentiate instruction, they modify contexts for learning, the content to be learned and aspects of the learning process. With the inclusion of spoken and media texts, young adult literature, a range of texts to be produced, the important role of talk in all aspects of the learning process, and an emphasis on conferencing and student self-evaluation, the
SELA2 program provides a solid foundation for differentiated instruction.
3
2. For specific information, including End-Of-Cycle Outcomes for the first two years of secondary school, teachers are encouraged to consult the SELA program for Cycle One.
3. For additional information, see Carol Ann Tomlinson, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners .
Secondary English Language Arts
› 3
Chapter 5

The broad areas of learning provide contexts that are grounded in students’ lives and the realities they face, both now and in the future. In fact, the broad areas of learning form the bridge between students’ everyday lives, the school community and wider social
The broad areas of learning deal with major realities. English Language Arts supports the development of the broad areas of learning by offering rich contemporary issues.
Through their specific communication contexts in which to explore issues and by providing a collaborative community in which students approaches to reality, the various subjects learn to express themselves and fulfill their potential.
illuminate particular aspects of these issues and thus contribute to the development
For example, Media Literacy encourages students to be actively involved in both reading and producing media texts that respect individual and collective rights. Since of a broader world-view.
literacy for life is the foundation of SELA2, this media component is developed throughout the program as students work collaboratively in “real world” conditions, both analyzing the ways the media construct reality and using different media to construct their own views of the world.
Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities asks students to consider the ethical aspects of their behaviour as consumers and to adopt responsible behaviour with regard to their surroundings. The
SELA2 classroom provides a learning environment in which students can investigate, in a critical and proactive manner, a variety of topics, such as globalization, sustainable development, consumerism and advertising. In this context, students participate actively in the classroom and the world, put facts into perspective and analyze the major issues of the day.
The cross-curricular competencies comprise the essential attitudes, knowledge and resources that students need to be competent and successful in all areas
Québec Education Program of life. They are closely linked to employability skills at a time of transformation in the world of work, including the increased expectations of future employers. The crosscurricular competencies focus on strategies and processes linked to “learning-how-to-learn” in a variety of situations and across the curriculum. For this reason, SELA2 addresses aspects of each of the cross-curricular competencies as they pertain to the discipline.
The cross-curricular competencies are not developed in a vacuum; they are rooted in specific learning contexts, which are usually related to the subjects.
Intellectual
In the SELA2 program, the uses of information are addressed explicitly in all three competencies. Competency 1 (Talk) features problem-solving as students reinvest these strategies for various purposes; Competency 2
(Reading) looks at the interpretation of texts through the lens of critical judgment, especially as concerns texts that argue and persuade. Competency
3 (Production), with its focus on a wide range of texts, enhances the development of students’ creativity.
Methodological
All three competencies of SELA2 provide links to the two methodological cross-curricular competencies, offering contexts to enhance their development.
Students engage in a range of activities in which the key features of CCC
5: Adopts effective work methods are fundamental. CCC 6: Uses information and communications technologies is addressed as students read and produce multigenre and multimodal texts and as they learn to identify the affordances, or potentials, of different modes and genres.
Personal and social
In the SELA2 classroom, contexts for learning address CCC 8: Cooperates with others in direct, immediate ways as students express their own points of view, accommodate the views of others and participate as members of
› 4
Chapter 5

a team. Conversely, CCC 8 also makes a significant contribution to the way students use language to learn. Since critical literacy in SELA2 has been defined as reading the word and the world, each of its competencies focuses on the connections between texts and the worlds of students, encouraging them to take risks in order to learn. CCC 7: Achieves his/her potential contributes to the SELA2 competencies by supporting the importance of connecting texts to their social and cultural function(s) and by stressing the degree to which the development of confident, autonomous individuals depends upon the support and encouragement of others.
Communication-related
The correspondence between CCC 9: Communicates appropriately and SELA2 underscores the critical role of language, discourse and genre in making lifelong learning possible. More precisely, both CCC 9 and SELA2 address modes of communication, the contexts in which communication takes place, target audiences and the connection between the purpose for communication and the structures and features of texts.
English Language Arts is both a discipline and a language of instruction.
As such, its connections to other subject areas are both explicit and complementary. With its emphasis on spoken, written and media texts, SELA2 supports the other subject areas by teaching students about the social purpose(s) and function(s) of texts, including features of particular discourse communities. In the latter case, students are better able to appreciate the vocabularies of different disciplines. Because of the emphasis in SELA2 on the meanings that different texts convey, students acquire literacy strategies that apply to any subject area. For example, SELA2 makes a direct connection to Ethics and Religious Culture by examining ethical issues related to life in a democratic society inherent in many of the texts that students read, since this kind of discovery is deeply related to the development of critical literacy.
English Language Arts has a long tradition of interdisciplinary study. In particular, SELA2 is linked to history and the social sciences in terms of the literature and other texts that students read, insofar as these texts have a sociocultural and historical context. When students are working with
Québec Education Program Languages information-based texts or as they develop a research process, the topics, themes and messages they encounter are usually cross-curricular in nature and often pertain to areas traditionally associated with history, the sciences and the arts. In these instances, the connections between SELA2 and other subjects is a reciprocal one, resulting in interdisciplinary contexts for teaching and learning. Also, the broad areas of learning and the cross-curricular competencies provide contexts for interdisciplinary projects, as is the case when students develop an ethnographic study. Here, depending on their focus, students may be developing surveys, interviewing people, studying the local history of their community and using the media and ICT to conduct research. Clearly, in order to complete this project, they need to integrate the knowledge they
Reality can rarely be understood through the have gained in numerous subject areas, while also drawing on the capacity to adopt effective work methods rigid logic of a single subject; rather, it is by and cooperate with others.
To enhance learning in their own discipline, ELA teachers bringing together several fields of knowledge that have traditionally called upon other subject areas, particularly the arts. ELA teachers often take students we are able to grasp its many facets.
to live theatre and/or dance productions, as well as to museums and concerts, in an effort to enrich their students’ cultural experiences. Therefore, SELA2 continues the proud tradition of fostering a love of performance, art, theatre and music.
Since SELA2 is a critical literacy program, its competencies are interdependent and complementary ; similarly, the key features of each competency are nonhierarchical and nonchronological in nature. Therefore, it is possible to enter the program through any one specific competency. The visuals accompanying each competency illustrate how it contributes to the development of critical literacy. The integration of the competencies, together with the flexibility of the key features, accommodate different pedagogical styles and a wide range of instructional contexts. Teaching to competency requires the creation of multiple occasions for students to practise their growing fluency and to consolidate literacy strategies and skills.
› 5
Chapter 5
Secondary English Language Arts

Competency develops and manifests itself in situations, or pedagogical contexts, that require students to mobilize the resources in their repertoire and apply them effectively. In other words, competency is more than simple recall, rote learning or a cumulative set of information and skills. Competent learners can modify, adapt, innovate and transfer their declarative, strategic and procedural knowledge to different situations for a variety of purposes.
This is largely because students have already had many opportunities to work with strategies, processes, procedures and knowledge in different combinations and for different purposes. The kinds of TLE contexts, or
Literate individuals situations, that teachers create to support their students’ development of competency are always planned with a demonstrate competency in a wide range of clear focus in mind. This section describes the conditions that are essential to the development of critical literacy situations and possess a repertoire of reliable and that are common to all TLE contexts or situations.
Common to these learning situations is their capacity to knowledge and skills.
motivate students, as well as challenge them.
The goal of the SELA2 program is the development of a confident learner who finds in language, discourse and genre a means of coming to terms with ideas and experiences, and a medium for communicating with others and for learning across the curriculum. Students must be immersed in a rich, literate classroom environment that promotes the important value placed on literacy in this culture, in their school and by their teachers. As students read and produce texts for pleasure and to learn, they must have access to a classroom and/or school library that offers an excellent range of materials that interest and appeal to adolescents. This range of texts is critical to students’ development in each of the three competencies of the program.
Technology and other similar resources must also be made available, since the program promotes their use.
Students learn to make connections between mode, genre and context in classrooms where they are actively engaged in reading, interpreting and producing a range of texts. They explore and work with new strategies and processes principally, though not exclusively, related to the structures and features of different modes of representation as these are found in different genres. The representational modes of word, sound and image have their own specific affordances and the development of literacy is rooted in knowing when to choose a mode and genre in light of one’s intentions . As well, literate readers recognize that a writer or producer has chosen specific modes and genres to establish some kind of relationship with the audience , e.g. promote a point of view, encourage an action or response, create a virtual world, etc. Therefore, it is vital that the contexts or situations in which students are producing texts demand that they make similar choices. As well, attention is paid to the transfer of strategies and knowledge from one context to another and to different modes and media, i.e. from the media to print and vice versa, from print to speech and vice versa. Language-inuse, in contexts where students are encouraged to take risks and responsibility for their own learning, is the means for the development of versatile meaning-making processes and effective language strategies.
The development of literacy is both an individual achievement and a social skill, since we learn how language works in the fabric of family, school, community and culture. In the Cycle Two classroom, the teacher plays
In the SELA2 classroom, the literacy of the teacher is the essential resource.
Québec Education Program
› 6
Chapter 5

a number of important roles, one of the most important being that of a trusted adult who models literate behaviours and practices. The teacher has a direct influence not only on the values students associate with literacy, but also on their understanding of how language constructs meaning(s) in school and out in the world. The teacher is also instrumental in setting the tone of a teaching-learning environment. Learning language and using language to learn involve engaging students in activities that speak to the issues, themes and experiences that mark adolescent lives. In this way, literacy interweaves linguistic, textual and social knowledge, so that learning in our discipline is grounded in the understanding that language and texts are essential resources that we rely upon throughout our lives.
Talk is central to individual and social processes of making meaning, as students learn to extend their views, opinions, preferences and knowledge in dialogue with the teacher and their peers. Varied opportunities to use talk to learn and to communicate reinforce the sense of community in the classroom, the centrality of the meaning-making process and the importance of exchanges with peers and teacher to the development of students’ literacy. In dialogue with others, students develop the ability to represent situations, circumstances and subjects that lie beyond their direct experience.
The tone of teaching-learning is also interactive and collaborative. Students come to understand that the codes and conventions of different genres are sociocultural in nature by participating in situations that require them to draw on prior knowledge to move to new uses of spoken, written and media language. Collaborative projects and activities teach students to respect the different views of their peers, to express their own views with confidence and to use effective work methods, while also providing students with an important means of discovering the different functions of texts. For example, students in the second year of Cycle Two often grapple with the structure of written argument, even though they show a great deal of strategic ability when defending their opinions in class discussions or formal debates. It makes sense, then, to draw on this understanding as a basis for teaching students how to structure an argument in a written text.
The structures and features of information-based texts are different from those employed in literary and popular texts, and incorporate their own
Québec Education Program Languages rhetorical features. For this reason, information-based texts are studied in all three competencies of the SELA2 program, with an emphasis on those texts that target adolescents in particular and that present content that is related to the broad areas of learning. It is anticipated that students work with information in more deliberate and skillful ways as a result of the integration of the three competencies, in such activities as immersion into texts, interpretation of a variety of information-based texts, oral presentations, classroom debates and so forth.
Reflexivity is a capacity that is actively learned while students mobilize the resources—strategies, processes, knowledge—in their repertoire in a specific context or situation. The capacity to reflect-in-action indicates control of the resources and self-monitoring strategies the students have acquired and is fundamental to the development of critical literacy. Over the three years of
Cycle Two, students learn to reflect systematically on their literacy and learning, developing the essential skill of monitoring their individual progress in English language arts over time. Opportunities to reflect on and to selfevaluate progress, with the teacher’s guidance and support, are frequent. In order to support the development of critical literacy, the content of each of the three competencies is integrated so that reading, for example, is connected to talk and the production process. Literacy is a whole system of communication and the separate competencies represent the parts that make up the whole.
A record of progress and development over the three years of the cycle is maintained in students’ Integrated Profiles.
These profiles represent samples of students’ use of language/talk to think and to learn, and of their processes
For students to develop literacy, they must be given opportunities to reflect upon their for interpreting and producing spoken, written, media and multimodal texts for different audiences and in a range learning and selfevaluate their progress.
of TLE contexts or situations. They also include samples of self- and peer-evaluations. The content for student-teacher conferences, using each student’s Integrated Profile as the focal point, is found in Competency
1 (Talk): Integrated Profile–Showing the Competencies in Action–and calls upon learning in all three competencies of the SELA2 program.
› 7
Chapter 5
Secondary English Language Arts

Integrated TLE Context: Keys to Development
There are some common characteristics of the SELA2 classroom over the three years of Cycle Two that support the development of students’ competency.
They are adapted to correspond to the developmental growth of students throughout the cycle, while also providing a framework for planning a range of learning and evaluation situations (LES) that integrate the three competencies of SELA2.
These common characteristics are:
– Reading, interpretation and production processes as specified in the SELA2 program
– Opportunities for students to work both individually and collaboratively
– Regular and sustained periods for students to read and produce texts for pleasure and to learn
– Regular opportunities for students to contribute to the classroom community, e.g. working in peer response groups, providing feedback, participating as member of a team, initiating projects and activities
– Opportunities for students to work in situations (LES) that integrate aspects of the Talk, Reading and Production competencies
– Opportunities for students to read and produce a balance of spoken, written and media texts, as well as multigenre and multimodal texts
– Access to texts that reflect personal interests and preferences, as well as those that expand students’ Integrated Profiles
– Access to additional resources, e.g. primary and secondary resources about a particular event, period of history, author
– Differentiation and student choice regarding projects, activities and the topics/subjects for reading and production
– Regular opportunities and time for students to reflect on literacy and learning
– Student responsibility for organizing and maintaining their own Integrated Profile
– Regular opportunities for students to self-evaluate
– Introduction of new learning that includes teacher-modelling and opportunities for students to apply what has been demonstrated
– Support and guidance from teacher throughout the learning process
– A balance of familiar and unfamiliar texts and TLE contexts
› 8
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

Required Genres
Throughout Cycle Two, students are required to read and produce texts from each of the social functions listed below. The texts themselves are also compulsory, since all of them appear in the program content of one or more of the competencies of the SELA2 program.
In most cases, the chart makes no distinction between the texts that students read and those they produce: SELA2 is an integrated language arts program that promotes a reading-production connection in the classroom. It is anticipated that students are engaged in reading and interpreting texts for pleasure and to learn, as well as reading to learn how to produce texts and to foster the imagination. In other words, students read more widely than they produce over the three years of the cycle, and learn to draw on these reading-production connections to consolidate their understanding of the affordances of specific genres and modes. For this reason, the texts listed below have been categorized according to their dominant social function.
By the end of secondary school, students’ Integrated Profiles must reflect a balance of genres and modes, as well as a range of TLE contexts, or situations, in which different texts are read and produced.
Social Functions Texts
PLANNING texts are used to plan and organize our thoughts, ideas and actions, and to help us monitor our own learning.
Proposals, action plans, outlines and storyboards; field notes, transcripts, minutes and other informal notes including the results of individual and group brainstorming activities; self-monitoring texts such as rubrics or checklists
REFLECTIVE texts help us to reflect, think and/or wonder about life, current events, personal experiences, as well as to reflect on our actions and evaluate what we learn.
Class and small group discussions, including responses and interpretations of texts; rereading and presenting contents of the Integrated Profile, including self-evaluation conferences and written self-evaluations and reflections; peerediting and feedback conferences; journals such as reading logs, media logs, learning/process logs and/or writer’s notebook
NARRATIVE texts are one of the oldest forms for recording and making sense of human experience, as well as articulating the world of the imagination.
Reading: popular, mass-produced narrative texts such as magazines, graphic novels and film; young adult literature; novels, short stories, poetry and plays from classic, modern and contemporary literature
Production (spoken): improvisations, role play, storytelling; poetry readings, dramatizations of plays and other texts
Production (written/media/multimodal): script, story, personal narrative, poetry, narratives using different media such as print, radio, video, photography
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 9
Chapter 5

Required Genres (cont.)
Social Functions Texts
EXPLANATORY texts answer the questions “why” and “how.” Describing a procedure and/or explaining social/natural phenomena, these texts allow people to share their expertise in a range of fields and form the basis of many texts from which we learn throughout our lives, such as textbooks and reference books.
Photo-essay with text, spoken explanations of a process, “how to” booklet/manual or video
REPORTS describe the way things are or were, conveying information in a seemingly straightforward and objective fashion. They focus on the classification and/or synthesis of a range of natural, cultural or social phenomena in order to name, document and store it as information.
Research reports, interview transcripts, news reports in different media
EXPOSITORY texts are constructed in deliberate ways and interpret some aspect of the world in a particular way . Whereas fictional texts may occupy a prominent place in our leisure time, persuasive and argumentative texts are central not only to leisure activities, as in reading newspapers, but also play an important role in postsecondary institutions, different professions and in the world of work in general.
Argumentative texts try to convince people of a point of view about a topic or issue through a logical sequencing of ideas and/or propositions.
Persuasive texts try to move people to act or behave in a certain way, including selling or promoting a product or ideology.
Action research plan, speech, editorial, book or film review, poster, debate, advertisements including public service announcements: print, radio, television. Texts that promote a particular argument or point of view such as documentary film and Internet sites. Essays dealing with personal and social concerns, as well as issues arising from literature.
› 10
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

– Repertoire of genres and texts
– Stances and points of view
– Values and beliefs
– Knowledge and personal experiences
– Questions / critical judgment
– Tastes and preferences
– Purposes and intentions for communication
– Strategies and processes
– Social functions (purposes/intentions)
– Spoken, written, media texts
– Codes and conventions
– Constructed meanings, messages
– Representation of values and beliefs
– Mode/multimodal
– Affordances
– Classroom as democratic community
– Ethnography project
– Independent units of study
– Inquiry and action research
– Collaborative talk groups
– Self-evaluation conferences
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 11
Chapter 5

Students entering Cycle Two bring with them a repertoire of communication and learning strategies, abilities and literate behaviours, developed from their experiences in the EELA and SELA programs. They are able to produce spoken texts that present ideas and information to a familiar audience in informal contexts, and can plan and shape communication to achieve specific purposes, selecting effective strategies from their repertoire. Also, with peer and teacher support, they are able to organize and carry out collaborative action research projects, assuming responsibility for their own learning in these contexts. Students can also plan and carry out independent units of study, and organize and present their profiles of work from all the competencies over the cycle. Most of these
By working in both informal and formal contexts, students processes and projects are continued in Cycle Two of the program, and therefore will be familiar to students.
develop new rhetorical strategies
However, new challenges are set that demand new ways of using spoken language to communicate and to learn, for communicating with different audiences.
and various learning contexts are designed specifically so that students may develop the necessary strategies to carry out these new demands. For example, there is a movement from the familiar, informal context, e.g. the classroom, with peers and teacher as audience, to a more formal one, e.g.
a school debate, with secondary students and teachers as audience. This change of context necessitates the use of a more focused and structured language, and the development of new rhetorical strategies to address different audiences. However, the kind of collaborative discourse called talk remains a necessary component of all the contexts in which students work, as it has been in both the EELA and SELA programs.
Research has shown that a more explicit style of spoken (and written) language, one less context-bound and more elaborated, is associated in our society with academic and professional success. In Cycle Two, students work toward the development of this kind of language by participating in numerous contexts where they examine the characteristics of spoken
Québec Education Program language, its various uses in the school, community and society, and the expectations of the different audiences that they address. As they move into more structured contexts, students learn to be aware of the changes needed in the level of language used, and to adjust their language resources accordingly—in other words, they develop a sense of register. By making these adjustments of register in many different contexts, students develop a more flexible form of language, one that can accommodate the demands of more complex communication and learning contexts. An important new emphasis for Cycle Two is the study of genres and their functions in our society. Students learn how genres are organized and structured, what conventions and rhetorical aspects are attached to them, what language resources are necessary,
Students study the genres and how their mastery is important to students’ future success. They study the uses, organization and language of explanation, reporting, argument/debate and requirements of the genres associated with spoken language, such as explanation, report, argument/debate persuasion with an emphasis on their social functions.
and persuasion. In collaborative settings, students develop a repertoire of strategies to construct the knowledge needed to produce texts in these genres, as well as strategies to collect data by researching and interviewing. In these contexts, they also develop an understanding of the appropriate use of research strategies.
Collaboration and inquiry-based learning remain a central part of this competency, as they were in Cycle One. Both these processes are essential ways of making meaning: collaborative talk, with its tentative and exploratory qualities, allows for the use of questioning and hypothesizing, of searching for answers, of playing with ideas, and provides an important way for students to assimilate and integrate new knowledge; inquiry-based
Inquiry-based learning focuses on how knowledge is really produced—how learning moves the focus from the view of knowledge as ready-made and transmittable “as is” from teacher to student or from text to reader to an exploration and demonstration of how knowledge is really produced—how questions are asked and data articulated.
› 12
Chapter 5

questions are asked, data accumulated and generalizations made. In projects such as ethnographic research, students follow these processes and apply these strategies to conduct original research in the school and community.
Both collaboration and inquiry-based learning also play an important role in Competency 2 (Reading) and Competency 3 (Production). For example, students work in collaborative groups to produce texts in all modes; discuss their interpretive responses to texts being read, viewed and listened to; and use collaborative talk with teachers and peers to discover what they know and want to write about. Both processes also require students to be immersed in a community of language users engaged in meaning-making in many different contexts.
This competency contributes actively to the development of the educational aims of the broad areas of learning. All of them are addressed and serve as important learning contexts for students, since these aims reflect personal and social concerns pertinent to their world and thus offer many areas for further investigation and development. Two of the broad areas of learning have special relevance. First, Career Planning and Entrepreneurship , whose educational aim is to enable students to make and carry out plans designed to develop their potential and help them integrate into adult society, has strategies for planning projects that are similar to those of this competency.
And Citizenship and Community Life , whose educational aim is to enable students to develop an attitude of openness to the world and respect for diversity, overlaps with the key feature of this competency that deals with the social practices of the classroom and community.
This competency also fully supports the development of all the crosscurricular competencies. Of particular importance is CCC 7: Achieves his/her potential , since an important feature of the Talk competency is the development of autonomy in students. CCC 7 is referred to in the Program Content dealing with social practices of the classroom and community, where strategies such as taking her/his place among others and making good use of her/his personal resources are a critical part of the growing autonomy of students.
As well, CCC 5: Adopts effective work methods is incorporated in the many tasks and projects that students undertake, because strategies such as analyzing and evaluating procedures and identifying available resources are essential to the success of any project. Finally, since interaction with others is one of the key features of this competency, it subsumes the focus of CCC 8:
Cooperates with others and its strategies, such as using teamwork effectively.
Québec Education Program Languages
Differentiation in the Classroom
A collaborative, project-based classroom uses the diversity of student abilities and interests as a positive resource. Students of all abilities benefit from a classroom environment where teachers and peers offer continuous support to the learner, where student interests and aspirations are respected and encouraged, and where student success is the ultimate goal of all concerned.
The classroom learning contexts are consciously designed to allow all students to develop the competency, and also to offer scope for differentiated learning. These contexts are complex enough to accommodate the varied abilities and learning styles of students, and are rich enough to challenge them to develop new insights. There are numerous opportunities to adjust or extend the required content: for example, students self-select topics and methods of development for their independent units of study and they maintain Integrated Profiles which include evidence of how personal choices and interests contributed to their growth over the cycle. In most cases, students and teacher negotiate the curriculum within the demands of the competency, and this collaboration ensures that the interests and the abilities of students are fully considered.
Students expand their repertoire of resources
Students expand their repertoire of resources for use in all communication and learning contexts. They investigate the affordances of spoken language in order to discover its distinctive potential as a mode of communication. The as they participate in a range of activities, from action research to independent units aesthetic qualities of spoken language are examined by looking at their use in poetry and media texts. Students of study to presenting their Integrated Profile.
develop a range of rhetorical strategies to communicate effectively with an audience. For example, they understand that nonverbal resources such as facial expressions and gestures can be used to construct and emphasize meaning. Students also learn that a change of audience and setting influences the organization and presentation of spoken texts in many subtle ways and that, in these contexts, a change of register is required. As well, students examine the affordances of the required genres and their organizational and language conventions. They expand their range of resources for accessing information and collecting the data needed for use in specific genres, e.g. to support arguments. An important aspect of this
› 13
Chapter 5
Secondary English Language Arts

key feature is the conscious recognition by students that these resources are essential to effective communication and learning. Social interaction in various learning contexts is the emphasis of another key feature.
Collaborative talk groups and action research groups are the sites for the interaction, and these groups work in contexts where the audience, topic to be examined and genre are negotiated with the guidance of the teacher.
Collaboration is presented as a knowledge-building process: students learn how meaning is constructed through collaborative talk, and how communal knowledge is developed and presented in genres such as explanation, report, argument/debate and persuasion. Using an inquiry process, action research groups learn how to access information through research, interviews and classroom drama. Classroom drama is viewed as a different way of learning about an issue or problem: a way of examining complex issues by embodying other voices and points of view and by providing imagined possibilities for inquiry and reflection. An important aspect of this key feature is the examination of genres and their structures, through which students learn how genres act as forms of knowledge in our society, and how to use them effectively for their own purposes.
The social practices of the classroom and community are examined, and emphasis is placed on the use of teacher-student dialogue to support learning, to foster the development of students’ metacognitive abilities, and to encourage their autonomy. Students assume an active role in their own learning by developing a metalanguage to discuss their progress and by engaging in a process of self-evaluation and reflection. They plan and carry out independent units of study on self-selected topics, and share their findings with peers and teacher. They organize and maintain an Integrated
Profile containing work from all the competencies, and discuss it with the teacher in regular and ongoing evaluation conferences throughout the cycle.
As well, students examine the use of language for discussion and debate in the classroom and community, and the place of spoken language in the life of the school. To demonstrate their knowledge of the resources of spoken language and their use of strategies for collecting data, students conduct an exploratory ethnographic project in the school or community. An important aspect of this key feature is its emphasis on the growing autonomy of students who have developed the ability to evaluate what and how they are learning and to consider ways of putting this knowledge into action.
Québec Education Program
› 14
Chapter 5

Investigates the affordances of spoken language as a mode of communication • Examines some of the aesthetic qualities of spoken language • Develops rhetorical strategies to achieve specific purposes • Examines the affordances of genres • Extends the range of strategies for collecting the data needed for use in specific genres
Investigates the uses of spoken language in the school and community • Plans and carries out independent units of study • Conducts exploratory ethnographic research • Organizes and maintains an Integrated
Profile of work over the cycle • Engages in a process of self-evaluation and reflection • Confers with the teacher in regular and ongoing evaluation conferences
Collaborates with peers to construct knowledge about how things are done
• Participates in collaborative action research groups using an inquiry process
• Applies procedural and meaningmaking strategies to achieve a purpose
• Contributes to team efforts as an interactive and critical listener
– Adapts resources and strategies to purpose and audience
– Collaborates to carry out an inquiry project
– Organizes information in a report for a specific audience
– Applies rhetorical strategies in a persuasive text
– Selects data-collecting strategies appropriate to the context
– Self-evaluates development as a learner
The student draws on a repertoire of resources to communicate and to learn in specific contexts. S/he demonstrates understanding of the affordances of spoken language by incorporating the aesthetic qualities of spoken language, such as sound qualities, into spoken texts for special effects. S/he uses rhetorical strategies to create a relationship with an audience and to achieve a desired purpose, and adapts these strategies in different contexts. As well, the student adjusts the register to meet the demands of a specific context, e.g. when presenting a spoken text in a more formal setting. The student uses knowledge of the affordances of genres when selecting one for a specific purpose. Also, the student draws on a range of strategies for collecting data for specific purposes.
The student interacts with peers and teacher in collaborative talk groups and action research groups. S/he selects from a repertoire of strategies those needed to support knowledge-building within the group, such as assuming the stance of a critical listener and negotiating meaning with peers by questioning and challenging different viewpoints. The student applies a process of collaborative inquiry to learn and think through talk, and participates in action research projects to examine problems and issues of both personal and social significance, e.g. consumerism, violence in schools, environmental issues. In these contexts, s/he applies strategies such as making and testing hypotheses, collecting and interpreting data, theorizing, and developing tentative solutions to problems.
The student is able to use the required genres and their conventions, e.g. can report on a topic to an audience and persuade an audience to act in a desired manner.
The student participates as a member of the classroom by assuming an active role in her/his learning and by evaluating her/his development as a learner. S/he designs an independent unit of study and presents it to peers and teachers in an organization of her/his choice. The student also organizes and maintains an Integrated Profile of work done in all the competencies of the program and presents it at regular student-teacher conferences. S/he uses a process of selfevaluation and reflection to examine her/his work over the cycle. S/he talks about the processes and strategies s/he uses for communicating and learning through talk, e.g. collaborating with peers, debating issues, interviewing. As well, the student initiates activities and projects that examine school and community language practices, e.g. an exploratory ethnographic research project.
By the end of Cycle Two, the student is a selfmotivated communicator and resourceful learner, one who has taken an active role in the classroom and community during the secondary school years.Through the many and varied negotiations with peers and teacher, the student has developed an individual voice and is confident in expressing opinions, raising
› 15 questions, articulating thoughts and making
Chapter 5 critical judgments.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts

Throughout Secondary Cycle Two, students are a part of a classroom community of active and engaged language users. The teacher provides them with ongoing opportunities to participate in learning situations specifically designed to encourage and support development of the competency. These situations must involve significant tasks that increase in complexity over the cycle, demand an active mobilization of resources to accomplish them adequately, and encourage the development of autonomy in students. In the Talk competency, development is seen in three key areas: contexts for communication and learning, repertoire of resources, and integration of knowledge, resources and strategies. The charts that follow describe the kinds of teaching-learning situations that promote development in each of these areas.
There are some common characteristics of the ELA classroom over the three years of Cycle Two that support the development of all three competencies in SELA2. These are described in the TLE Context and promote the type of classroom environment in which the development of Competency 1 (Talk) takes place.
To ensure the production of a variety of spoken texts over the cycle, the teacher structures contexts, or learning situations, such as the following: collaborative discussion groups, where students produce spoken texts in specific genres; action research groups, where students investigate authentic personal and social issues and produce action plans; independent units of study and self-directed research projects, where students negotiate topic, audience and methods with their teachers. In all these contexts, the teacher supports new learning experiences, and monitors the students’ growth and development as users and producers of spoken language.
Québec Education Program
› 16
Chapter 5

Texts
Genres
Topics
Year One
Explanation, Reporting,
Argument/Debate, Persuasion
Focus: exploration of the affordances of genres
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Topics and issues of personal and social interest
Exploration of community and social issues
Year Two
Explanation, Reporting,
Argument/Debate, Persuasion
Focus: compare/contrast affordances of genres, in particular argument/debate and persuasion
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Topics and issues of personal and social interest
Issues from larger social and cultural worlds
Year Three
Explanation, Reporting,
Argument/Debate, Persuasion
Focus: evaluation of differences in affordances of genres, in particular argument/debate and persuasion
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Topics from personal, social, cultural and political worlds, including issues that present more intellectual challenges and require more extensive research
Many different contexts, both informal and formal
Contexts Familiar contexts in most cases
Possibility of more formal contexts
Familiar or informal contexts
More formal and structured contexts
Genre conventions
Familiar contexts: knowledge and strategies to shape texts; language requirements and registers of the different genres
Less familiar contexts: same as above, with teacher-modelling and guidance
Teacher-modelling of the conventions of the specific genres listed above
Teacher-modelling of organizational strategies to structure genres
Choice of spoken language strategies appropriate to genre, e.g. factual statements and precise language for a report
Teacher-modelling of known processes and strategies to suit context, e.g.
problem-solving strategies to resolve an issue
Familiar contexts: knowledge and strategies to shape texts; language requirements and registers of the different genres
Less familiar contexts: same as above, with teacher support, as needed
Experimentation with genre conventions necessary to present more complex issues, with teacher support
Adaptation of known organizational strategies to structure genres
Adjustment of spoken language strategies appropriate to the genre, e.g. registers and other rhetorical strategies
Use of known processes and strategies to suit context, e.g. using appeals to both reason and emotions to persuade an audience
Québec Education Program Languages
Demands of different communication contexts, e.g. knowledge, strategies, language requirements and registers
Use of genre conventions necessary to present more complex issues
Control of a repertoire of organizational strategies to structure genres
Selection of spoken language strategies appropriate to the genre, e.g. more conscious use of rhetorical strategies
Relevant processes and strategies to suit context, e.g. when reporting on a complex issue, develop knowledge from a variety of sources and organize material to suit the needs of the audience
Secondary English Language Arts
› 17
Chapter 5

Repertoire of Resources: Knowledge, Processes and Strategies
Throughout the cycle, students build a repertoire of resources by acquiring the knowledge, processes, strategies and attitudes presented in the Program
Content. Students draw from their repertoire when accomplishing tasks in various contexts. Since the acquisition of these resources is critical to the success of the student, the teacher provides many varied opportunities for students to construct knowledge and develop strategies that support the gradual development of their repertoire. The teacher impresses on students the importance of a repertoire that is expansive, relevant and organized, and finds many occasions to monitor its development. As well, the teacher models unfamiliar or difficult processes and strategies, and helps students integrate these new learning experiences.
In this way, students realize the importance of the teacher as a principal resource in the learning process.
Knowledge,
Processes,
Strategies
Knowledge: affordances of spoken language in group tasks
Year One Year Two
Codes and conventions of language needed for general communication acquired by continual use of spoken language for a variety of purposes and in many different contexts
Knowledge: affordances of genres
Use of the genres in different contexts and with unfamiliar structures and conventions, with teacher modelling and support
Focus: general knowledge of affordances of explanation, reporting, argument/debate and persuasion
See Topics section above
Collaborative process and strategies for constructing knowledge
Collaborative tasks: negotiation of meaning through collaborative talk with peers and teacher; and with teacher modelling
Use of collaborative talk for specific purposes, e.g. to keep the discussion moving
Use of some critical listening strategies, e.g. asking pertinent questions
Analysis of different responsibilities
Use of the genres in different contexts, and unfamiliar structures and conventions, with teacher support, as needed
Focus: as in Year One, with attention to argument/debate and persuasion as more complex genres
See Topics section above
Collaborative tasks: negotiation of meaning with peers, with teacher support, as needed
Use of collaborative talk to construct communal knowledge
Use of extended critical listening strategies, e.g. paraphrasing, defending the ideas of others
Active participation in negotiating and determining responsibilities in group tasks of genres
Year Three
Control of most structures and conventions
Focus: as in Year Two, with attention to argument/debate and persuasion and their pervasive use in society
See Topics section above
Collaborative tasks: control of most meaning-making strategies
Conscious use of negotiation as a way to develop knowledge
Use of critical listening as an essential element in constructing knowledge, e.g. extracting salient points for further elaboration
Evaluation of group performance and effectiveness
Québec Education Program
› 18
Chapter 5

Knowledge,
Processes,
Strategies
Inquiry process and strategies for collecting data
Classroom community
Year One Year Two Year Three
Action research groups: use of inquiry process and action plans to persuade familiar audiences to bring about recommended social change, with teacher support
Use of information-gathering strategies to extend knowledge, e.g. research, interview, ICT
Action research groups: choice of range of issues and more rigorous analysis of problem, with teacher support, as needed
Use of information-gathering strategies to obtain specific knowledge, e.g.
interviewing an expert
Action research groups: choice of range of issues and more rigorous analysis of problem, and with option of further audience
Use of research in constructing knowledge; understanding of the relation of research to social practice
Teacher: models new or difficult processes and strategies, provides important knowledge of the discipline, and promotes a positive learning climate
Peers: share ideas and offer feedback
Use of classroom community support when undertaking activities and projects, e.g. seeking teacher advice when selecting topics for independent units of study and ethnographic research projects
Classroom, school and community resources such as library materials, available technology, and experts in various disciplines
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 19
Chapter 5

Integration of Knowledge, Resources and Strategies
The teacher encourages and supports students as they gradually develop a level of autonomy and a sense of awareness of their abilities as learners. The teacher’s principal means of achieving this goal is to provide the needed structures as students initiate and carry out various projects that demand an integration of their knowledge, resources and strategies. By working regularly in such situations throughout the cycle, students mobilize resources and learn how to reorganize them in new contexts and for new purposes. The Integrated Profile serves as the site for the integration of work from all the competencies of the program. In regular and ongoing conferences with the teacher, students learn to reflect on the processes and strategies they used, and explain how they organized these projects and how they turned out. As students assume personal responsibility for work such as independent units of study and ethnographic research, the teacher negotiates the limits of these projects, taking into consideration the constraints of time and resources, and guiding students to consider projects that are achievable. An important aspect of students’ developing metacognitive abilities is the understanding that constraints change the dynamic of a context, thereby demanding an adaptation of the action being undertaken.
Integration
Independent units of study
Year One
Regular conferences with teacher:
– negotiation of topics, development and basic evaluation criteria
– estimation of duration and scope
– discussion of available resources needed
– identification of constraints
– discussion of adjustments, as needed
See Topics section above
Methods of presentation to suit topics and development, e.g. spoken résumé of units and reasons for choice of topics
Use of rhetorical strategies to engage audience, e.g. humour
Presentation to class outlining research methods and basic interpretation of data
Year Two
Regular conferences with teacher:
– negotiation of topics, development and evaluation criteria
– estimation of duration and scope
– discussion of timeline, management of workload and other constraints
– examination of progress to date in light of constraints and adaptation of projects accordingly
See Topics section above
Methods of presentation to suit topics and development, e.g. use of visuals
Selection of rhetorical strategies for specific purposes, e.g. present a point of view
Presentation to class and/or community detailing methods of research and interpretation of data; consideration of further ways to use the research, e.g. present to other classes
Year Three
Regular conferences with teacher:
– negotiation of topics, development and evaluation criteria
– estimation of duration and scope
– management of workload and other constraints
– reflection on changes to units as they develop and how these changes are being managed
See Topics section above
Methods of presentation to suit topics and development, e.g. multimedia texts
Deliberate use of rhetorical strategies for specific purposes, e.g. persuade to act
Presentation to class and/or community, elaborating on methods of research and interpretation of data; reflection on further uses of the research, e.g. investigate publishing outlets
Québec Education Program
› 20
Chapter 5

Integration
Autonomy
Year One
Focus: drawing on resources needed for developing projects with a certain degree of autonomy, e.g. identifying useful methods for managing workload and setting timelines and deadlines
Seeking teacher guidance and support during projects
Showing creativity in choice of projects and methods of presentation
In new situations, teacher-modelling of analysis of task to discover what knowledge, processes and strategies are needed
Integrated
Profile
(Metacognition)
Focus: in student-teacher conferences, discussing and reflecting on strengths and weaknesses as learner, e.g. identifying what improvements need to be made
Using the Integrated Profile to develop new resources and interests, and for new approaches and ideas
Evaluation of contributions as a team member in collaborative work
Year Two
Focus: improved management skills in initiating and developing projects, e.g.
effective work methods with teacher modelling ways to better control processes and manage available resources
Seeking teacher support, as needed, for organizing more difficult tasks
Showing creativity in extended activities and projects, e.g. suggesting a further audience for independent units of study
In new situations, analysis of task to discover what knowledge, processes and strategies are needed
Year Three
Focus: repertoire of management skills and resources in initiating and developing projects, e.g. self-monitoring and adjusting plans, as needed
Recognition of importance of teacher and peer feedback and support, even when student is relatively autonomous
Showing creativity in extended activities and projects, e.g. recycling material into a different project
In new situations with constraints of time or of resources, adaptation of knowledge, processes and strategies to achieve purpose
Focus: in student-teacher conferences, making decisions about which items to continue to work on; developing criteria for evaluating profile
Personalizing and making better use of the Integrated Profile
Evaluation of role in the collaborative process
Focus: in student-teacher conferences, exhibiting new insights into development as learners; exercising critical judgment when evaluating and reflecting on achievements
Finding practical uses for Integrated
Profile in postsecondary years
Evaluation of role in the collaborative process and reflection on how to improve it
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 21
Chapter 5

Please note that all the resources, strategies, processes and texts that follow are compulsory for the end of Cycle Two.
The spoken texts are listed in the section Repertoire of Required Genres, which includes a chart showing the texts for all three competencies of the program. The spoken texts produced over the cycle have their own integrity, that is, they emerge from specific contexts and serve their own specific purposes. However, many of these texts may also be used, in different contexts and for different purposes, as the basis for the production of written, media or multimodal texts. In these cases, refer to Competency 3
(Production): Production Process.
The repertoire of resources includes knowledge of language modes and genres; strategies needed to achieve a given purpose when communicating and learning in specific contexts; and strategies for collecting data.
Affordances of Spoken Language
Students draw on their prior experiences in using spoken language in a variety of contexts and producing spoken texts for different purposes. To make this knowledge more explicit and thus better able to serve increased language demands, students investigate the affordances of spoken language as a mode, that is, they look at its distinctive potential for communication, especially its aesthetic qualities and its rhetorical power to engage and influence audiences. Students learn to recognize when spoken language works best to meet the demands of a situation.
– Analyzes the characteristics of spoken language, e.g. is interactive and dialogic; is task-oriented and dynamic; allows for negotiated meaning
– Compares the affordances of written, media and multimodal languages in achieving a specific purpose, e.g. when persuading an audience, how a speaker uses the advantage of immediacy, i.e. being face-to-face with an audience. See Competency 3 (Production): Repertoire of Resources
– Constructs criteria for choosing the mode of spoken language in a specific context, by considering audience needs and demands of the context
– Examines how poets and others have used the sound patterns and other auditory elements of spoken language to great effect:
• in poetry: the kind of language used; the use of rhythm and rhyme; the linguistic organization, e.g. rhymed end-lines, internal rhyme, free verse line, enjambment; the sound patterns such as alliteration, rhyme, consonance, and assonance
• in media texts: slogans and jingles in commercials; repetition and sound patterns in music videos
– Develops strategies to enhance the rhetorical aspects of spoken language, i.e. its power to engage and influence audiences:
• uses techniques to engage the audience, for example, experiments with intonation patterns to create a sense of intimacy or shared values; uses humour, enthusiasm for topic
• selects devices to influence the audience’s judgment of the speaker: for example, powerful language and rhythm; appeals to reason and emotions; apostrophe and invocation, or direct address to make a point; rhetorical questions for emphasis
• chooses from a variety of resources to improve communication; voice qualities such as volume, pace, emphasis, phrasing, pause, clarity; pronunciation; nonverbal resources such as movements, facial expressions, gestures; auditory resources such as sound effects and silence
Québec Education Program
› 22
Chapter 5

• creates a tone and style suitable to the context: for example, repeating a person’s name; using analogy, imagery and other comparisons to communicate the message; using features such as “we” and the passive voice; using nonsexist and nonracist anguage to indicate values and attitudes
– Develops a sense of register, i.e. adjusts language style to meet the demands of different situations
Affordances of Genres
Students call on their prior knowledge of working with genres in Cycle One, such as explaining a process, reporting as an eye-witness, or debating an issue. They also transfer and integrate the knowledge learned by reading and producing a variety of genres in Competency 2 (Reading) and
Competency 3 (Production). When selecting genres for specific purposes, students draw on this expanded knowledge base of genres and their respective social functions to choose the one most appropriate to purpose and context.
– Differentiates among the affordances of the different genres:
• selects the genre of reporting to answer the questions Who? How? and
What? when dealing with general topics; knows that it uses factual statements and precise language; that its structure includes an opening general statement, followed by various aspects of the subject and a general conclusion; that the information is organized into sets; and that personal, social and school experiences can be used as examples or illustrations
• selects the genre of explanation (or basic exposition) to answer the questions Why? and How? to deal with causal relations; knows that it is used to explain the processes involved in natural or social phenomena, e.g. how something works or the reason for some phenomenon; that it uses action clauses, temporal conjunctions such as first, second, the next, after ; and causal conjunctions such as because, therefore ; that its structure includes a general statement introducing the topic, followed by a series of logical steps explaining how or why something occurs
• selects the genre of argument/debate 4 to convince an audience to adopt one viewpoint instead of another; knows that both genres use the simple present tense, and logical connectives such as therefore and however ; and that they have a slightly different structure:
- in argument, the structure includes a thesis or position statement, followed by supporting evidence organized as points, and concluding with a restatement of the speaker’s position for what ought to be or not to be done
- in debate, the structure includes a statement of the issue and a preview of the main arguments, followed by arguments for a point of view with supporting evidence, then arguments against with supporting evidence, and concluding with a recommendation in favour of one point of view
• selects the genre of persuasion to take a position on an issue and justify it with evidence in order to persuade the audience to follow a certain course of action; knows that its structure includes an opening statement of its position or the thesis, followed by arguments often in point form and elaborated, and concluding with a summary and restatement of the thesis; knows that it uses the simple present tense and logical conjunctions such as therefore, however, because
– Explores ways of transforming material from one genre to another, e.g.
reorganizes the information used for a debate into a persuasive text
– Creates a multigenre text by combining different genres, e.g. uses strong narrative conventions in an explanatory text
See Social Functions in the chart Required Genres. See also Competency 2
(Reading): Repertoire of Required Genres, and Competency 3 (Production):
Applying Codes and Conventions
Strategies for Collecting Data
The student expands her/his existing repertoire of strategies for collecting data by drawing on the many available resources in the classroom and community.
4. See also structure of arguments and evaluation in Ethics and Religious Culture.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 23
Chapter 5

Researching
– Immerses self in social context/world of the topic, e.g. reads, views, listens to texts related to the topic; collects the views of other researchers on it. See
Competency 2 (Reading): Working With Information, and Competency 3
(Production): Researching as a Writer/Producer.
– Uses available information and communications technologies to access background information, e.g. the Internet. See CCC 6: Uses information and communications technologies for more information
– Collects a variety of questionnaires, polls and surveys in order to study their formats and styles and, as needed, adapts these for specific research purposes. See Social Practices of School and Community: Exploring a Social
World below
Interviewing
– Listens to, views and reads a variety of interviews to study their structure and conventions, e.g. face-to-face, TV, radio, or print
– Decides on the person(s) to be interviewed; the type of interview, e.g. an expert in the field, or someone with controversial views; face-to-face; videotaped; the method of recording the interview and data such as note taking, audio/videotaping
– Decides what questions need to be asked and prepares them:
• questions which show knowledge of the issue being researched and of the person(s) being interviewed
• open-ended or broad questions to elicit or confirm background information
• specific questions to get expert opinion
• questions that avoid pitfalls such as leading the witness
• follow-up questions to probe responses or elicit more elaboration on the issue
• back-up questions in case problems arise, e.g. different approach
– Makes preparations prior to the interview:
• rehearses with group members, e.g. asking questions, recording data
• draws up a permission form, outlining the project and stating the intended use of the data
• prepares the technical resources to be used
Québec Education Program
– Interviews the chosen person(s)
– Evaluates the data and decides on their use
– Evaluates the interview, using rubrics and criteria agreed to by teacher and group
Classroom Drama
– Uses on-the-spot improvisations and role-play 5 at critical points, e.g. to represent different points of view on a topic or issue
– Experiments with possible social roles and power relationships by using role-play and improvisation, e.g. racism in society; bullying in the schools
– Experiments with exercises such as Forum Theatre 6 which dramatize problems and allow for actors to present different points of view and to suggest solutions
In both the Elementary and Secondary Cycle One programs, student interaction with peers and teacher was an essential element of all the competencies. Students collaborated in informal small groups and in many different contexts, for purposes such as reader response, media production, peer writing feedback, action research, project organizing and planning, and student-teacher conferences and interviews. In Cycle Two, students continue to collaborate in small informal groups. However, the focus is on more structured collaborative talk groups and action research groups. These groups work in contexts where the audience, topic and genre are negotiated with the teacher, and where the organization of material or data follows the conventions of the chosen genre. Also, the spoken language resources required are those appropriate to both the genre and the specific social situation.
5. See also Drama: Competency 1
6. Forum Theatre draws on storytelling and improvisation to create a scene in which a protagonist is failing to achieve what s/he needs, and the audience as “spect-actors,” enters into the scene to discover or suggest solutions. See Augusto Boal, Games for Actors and Non-Actors .
› 24
Chapter 5

Collaborative Talk Groups:
Constructing Knowledge of How Things Are Done
The importance of genres as social practice is demonstrated as students learn to construct the kind of knowledge needed to produce texts in the genres of explaining, reporting, arguing/debating and persuasion. Students also learn about the use of genres as ways of organizing information and knowledge, and their relation to how things are done in the world. Research is used to discover and develop the kind of factual knowledge that is needed in these genres.
Procedural Strategies
– Uses teamwork effectively and contributes to team efforts. See CCC 8:
Cooperates with others
– Sets agendas and timelines. See CCC 5: Adopts effective work methods
Meaning-Making Strategies
– Negotiates topic, audience and genre with teacher and peers
– Analyzes the issue/problem chosen and selects its most important features
– Reviews the social function of the chosen genre and the kind of information and knowledge needed to achieve its purpose; for example, explanation is used to describe a procedure or a social phenomenon, while argument tries to convince the audience of a point of view. See Social
Functions in the chart Required Genres
– Uses collaborative talk purposively in order to:
• initiate discussion, elicit responses and qualify statements
• interpret new information and experiences and fit them into what s/he already knows, i.e. connect to personal patterns of understanding and value
• negotiate meaning with peers by questioning and challenging different viewpoints
• seek multiple perspectives on the issue
• extend understanding of the issue or topic by building on the ideas of others
– Assumes the stance of an interactive and critical listener:
• questions, supports and defends the ideas of others
• asks pertinent questions
• paraphrases another’s position
• extracts salient points for further elaboration
• gives feedback at critical points
• listens to detect values and assumptions in the responses of others
• exercises critical judgment
– Uses research and other data-collecting strategies to extend knowledge of the topic, e.g. interviewing, improvisation and role-play, ICT. See
Repertoire of Resources: Strategies for Collecting Data above
– Develops a problem-solving scenario, if needed. See Science and
Technology: Competency 1, for problem-solving strategies
– Constructs hypothetical cases and tests them against evidence and other criteria
– Selects an organization appropriate to the genre, e.g. a report opens with a general statement followed by various aspects of the subject
– Chooses rhetorical strategies appropriate to the genre and the audience’s needs, e.g. persuasion uses strong rational and emotional appeals
– Presents the spoken text to the audience and seeks feedback
– Discusses further uses of the spoken text in different contexts, and takes appropriate action, e.g. finds a different audience for the text
Collaborative Action Research Groups:
Using Research for Social Change
In Cycle One, students worked in action research groups to inquire into issues that had personal and social significance and to use research as a tool for social action. Following a general inquiry process, they acquired some of the research strategies necessary for the project and produced an action plan.
In Cycle Two, students initiate and carry out similar action research projects.
Here students use a wider range of strategies for collecting data, and the product of the action research—the action plan—is seen as a type of
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 25
Chapter 5

persuasion, with the specific conventions and language requirements of this genre. Most importantly, there is a greater emphasis on the purpose of action research as a conduit for social change. Therefore, after the action plan has been presented to the teacher and peers, and feedback received and taken into account, the group seeks advice regarding the most effective means of bringing about the social change recommended, i.e. who is the most appropriate audience and who has the power or authority to act on these recommendations? Having decided on an audience, the group makes the necessary changes to the action plan.
Inquiry Process
– Initiates a project by choosing an issue of both personal and social significance to the group, and decides to whom the action plan will be directed, i.e. the audience
– Defines the issue: What are the critical questions? What should I do with what I learn? Whom should I interview? How is the issue related to the social and cultural condition of its time? What are the values it promotes?
– Reviews the organization, conventions and language requirements of a persuasive text:
• persuasion is used to take a position on an issue and justify it with evidence
• the speaker tries to persuade the audience to follow a course of action
• its structure includes an opening statement of position or thesis, followed by arguments and concluding with a summary and a restatement of the position
• it uses the simple present tense and logical conjunctions such as therefore, however, because
– Formulates or frames an inquiry question, e.g. what am I trying to discover?
– Plans the project, outlining the skills and resources needed to complete the project, assigning responsibilities and setting a timeline. See CCC 5:
Adopts effective work methods
– Organizes the collection of data from a variety of sources. See Repertoire of Resources: Strategies for Collecting Data above
– Applies a selection of exploration and analytical strategies to develop various scenarios. See Science and Technology: Exploration Strategies and
Analytical Strategies
– Draws on a repertoire of problem-solving strategies, as needed. See CCC 2:
Solves problems
– Analyzes the data collected and constructs a working theory to explain and interpret the data; discusses how to present conflicting data; and carries out further research, if necessary. See CCC 3: Exercises critical judgment
– Selects the most effective organization, given the requirements of the genre of persuasion and the data to be presented
– Presents the action plan to peers and teacher and seeks feedback
– Discusses, with teacher and peers, the most effective means of carrying out the social change recommended and takes the necessary steps, e.g.
decides on an audience who may be receptive to the recommendation and, if needed, chooses another mode in which to present the action plan.
See Competency 3 (Production): Production Process
Negotiating Role in the Classroom
During Cycle Two, students participate in the social practices enacted in the classroom by teacher and peers. The teacher encourages the developing autonomy and individuality of students and supports and guides them in coming to terms with more challenging and complex tasks. Students continue to assume an active role in their own learning and evaluation processes by planning, carrying out and presenting independent units of study, and by organizing and maintaining an Integrated Profile of self as learner. In both these enterprises, the repeated negotiations and dialogue between students and teacher are a critical element, since they extend the metacognitive abilities of students and support the development of autonomous learners. As well, both allow the development of personal choices and interests within agreedon conditions, thus providing opportunities for differentiated learning.
Québec Education Program
› 26
Chapter 5

Independent Units of Study: 7 Demonstrating Autonomy
In Cycle One, students planned and carried out integrated projects as part of Competency 4 (Writing). Students selected topics and issues of interest from a wide range of sources, had the option of working individually or collaboratively, and met regularly with teacher and peers to discuss progress.
In Cycle Two, these projects have been further developed into independent units of study, with an emphasis on the dialogue between students and teacher in regular conferences during the project, and with the addition of a spoken presentation to peers and teacher. The projects are of a scope and duration agreed to by student and teacher, and are done individually and independently, with the understanding that students have the support of peers and teacher, if needed. In undertaking and completing such projects, students demonstrate their ability to take charge of the project from its inception, to develop it to satisfy their intentions, and to make use of available resources.
– Negotiates a choice of topic, 8 audience and genre with the teacher
– Discusses a working action plan with the teacher and sets up conferences at regular intervals during the project:
• follows an inquiry process to research information
• explains a research rationale, i.e. reasons for choosing this topic or issue, what s/he may gain from it
• proposes a methodology and a timeline, and understands that the plan may change as the work develops
• talks about criteria for evaluation of the unit
• reflects on changes to the unit as it unfolds and how s/he managed those changes. See Inquiry Process above, and 3 (Production): Production
Process
– Talks about the development of the unit with peers and teacher:
• shares interests s/he wants to pursue
• plans, organizes, changes the unit as it develops
• monitors own work, sets timelines, organizes workload
• sets realistic goals
– Produces texts, within the unit of study, in contexts that are significant to her/him and that are directed at a specific audience
Québec Education Program Languages
– Considers various ways of organizing the unit of study for presentation, such as summarizing it and the process followed, creating a drama or a monologue that encapsulates the unit, or producing a multimedia text that represents the unit
– Chooses a presentational style appropriate to her/his purpose and audience, such as presenting alone or grouping her/himself with others with similar/contrasting themes. See CCC 4: Uses creativity
– Selects from her/his repertoire of rhetorical strategies those most appropriate to the method of presentation, e.g. voice, tone, gestures
– Presents the unit and seeks feedback, using criteria developed in collaboration with teacher and peers, e.g. how to improve the unit and the presentation, what other audiences may be considered
– As an option, finds other audiences that may be interested in the unit of study, adjusts the text(s) to suit this new context, and considers what additional rhetorical strategies are needed. See Competency 3 (Production)
Integrated Profile: Showing the Competencies in Action
The Integrated Profile of self as a learner, introduced in Cycle One to provide a dynamic portrait of the learning and evaluation processes of the student over the cycle, continues to be of vital importance in Cycle Two. Its rationale and its relation to the concept of immersion into texts are fully detailed in the introduction to the program. The Integrated Profile is the site for the integration of the three competencies of the program, as the student collects artefacts from all the competencies, records evidence of speaking, reading and production projects and activities, and develops strategies for selfevaluation and self-monitoring of learning over the cycle. The student organizes and maintains the profile and uses it as a resource for learning.
7. The independent units of study are similar in many aspects to the Professional Orientation Project
(POP); however, the focus of these units is different: here the emphasis is on the student’s use of spoken language to negotiate, discuss, and so on.
8. As well as the broad areas of learning and other areas of interest, topics and issues from other
Secondary Cycle Two programs may also be chosen. For example, in Mathematics, investigation into the concept of chance and how it operates in our lives; or, in Science and Technology, the relationship between science and ethics. Also, the choice of interdisciplinary projects supports the integration of the broad areas of learning and the cross-curricular competencies.
Secondary English Language Arts
› 27
Chapter 5

A most important use of it is in student-teacher conferences, where the student presents work from the profile and discusses progress over the cycle with the teacher. This ongoing dialogue supports the developing metacognitive abilities of the student.
9
Organization of the Integrated Profile
The student assumes an active role in maintaining the Integrated Profile and for making it a genuine learning resource and not merely a collection of material.
– Collects and organizes material 10 from the following sources:
• artefacts from all the competencies and from learning contexts such as media production teams, interpretative response groups, literature circles, classroom drama groups, writing groups for peer editing and feedback
• personal choices of texts listened to, read, viewed and produced, based on interests, purposes and preferences
• evidence of the student’s repertoire and profile as learner in all the competencies, e.g. in reading, how sharing responses with others contributed to own interpretation of the text
• evidence of processes of selection, revision and reflection, e.g. about her/himself as a producer: discussing new ideas about producing texts in all modes
• see Competency 2 (Reading): Reading Profile, and Competency 3
(Production): Reflection
– Develops a method of recording texts read, responded to, and produced, e.g. a response journal or a writer’s notebook. See CCC 5: Adopts effective work methods
– Chooses particular texts to work on further for own interest or for use in other projects, e.g. independent units of study, action research, ethnography
– Examines ways of extending own interests to the larger school community, e.g. doing surveys of language habits, publishing class/school magazines, organizing a school literary festival
– Updates the profile at regular intervals
Student-Teacher Conferences
The student shares the Integrated Profile in regularly scheduled studentteacher evaluation conferences. These conferences are not just an endof-year/cycle event, but are ongoing throughout the cycle. In these conferences, the student negotiates criteria for choosing the content of the profile and for evaluating it.
11
– Confers regularly with teacher and peers to discuss the profile
– Develops criteria for deciding the content of the profile, and adjusts these periodically to maintain a balance of material from various sources, e.g.
is there a need for more reflective texts or greater variety of written texts?
– Develops criteria for evaluating the profile at intervals during the cycle, e.g. what type of artefacts are we looking for? What level of risk has been taken? What kind of learning has taken place? Does the profile contain the items agreed to in negotiations? What is the quality of the material?
– Uses a metalanguage when talking about own development as a learner, e.g. understands terms such as genre, style, register, tone and stance
– Uses a process for self-reflection and self-evaluation:
• talks about the uses s/he makes of different texts, e.g. for pleasure, information or escape, to extend interests
• talks about processes and strategies used to learn
• discusses the importance of self-reflection and self-evaluation for learning
• talks about self-monitoring strategies, e.g. how to meet deadlines
9. See the key features of CCC 7: Achieves his/her potential .
10. The kind and variety of content of the Integrated Profile changes as the student moves through the three years of Cycle Two. As the student matures both as an individual and a learner, this development is reflected in her/his changing interests and personal choices.
11. See Mathematics for examples of questions that students can ask to monitor their own learning.
This excellent resource has a variety of questions that students can use during or after a learning situation.
Québec Education Program
› 28
Chapter 5

– Makes reading-production connections between texts in profile
– Talks about choices of own texts to read, view, listen to and produce based on interests, purposes and preferences, and accepts and gives recommendations about texts to read and produce, and topics to explore
– Talks about changing attitudes and tastes over time
– Develops criteria to measure own sense of accomplishment:
• sets personal learning goals
• identifies strengths and weaknesses in different contexts
– Discusses ways of transferring skills and knowledge to other learning situations, e.g. applies self-evaluation strategies to other disciplines
Negotiating Role in a Democratic Society 12
During Cycle Two, students prepare to act as engaged citizens in a democratic society by participating actively in the life of the school and community and by investigating their social practices. Within these smaller spheres, they develop and practise the social and intellectual skills necessary for participation in a democratic society.
School and Community Life: 13 Showing Commitment
Students use the forums available in the school and community for debate and discussion and take advantage of opportunities to experience the democratic principles of civil society.
– Promotes the rules of social conduct and democratic institutions:
• supports the representative student bodies already present in the school by participating in events and activities, e.g. student councils, debating clubs
• informs self of other opportunities for participation within the school and community, e.g. school board competitions and provincial events, such as public-speaking and debating competitions, model UN sessions
• takes an active role in establishing rules of conduct in the classroom and school
• shows respect and tolerance for other points of view
– Demonstrates cooperation and solidarity in working with peers:
• applies strategies for effective collaboration. See CCC 8: Cooperate with others
Québec Education Program Languages
• uses a decision-making process based on compromise and consensus, e.g. assists peers in reconciling differences and solving problems
• collaborates in peer feedback and response sessions, e.g. adds to the contribution of others, defends the ideas of others, expresses empathy and encouragement
• confers with peers on a regular basis to exchange ideas and share workin-progress, e.g. independent units of study
– Contributes to a culture of peace and interdependence by supporting projects in the community:
• invites a community group to speak, e.g. LOVE (Leave Out Violence) 14 and discusses how the school can support its work
• draws up an action plan and presents it to the Student Council
• researches the needs of local organizations, e.g. ones that help teenagers, chooses one and carries out a fund-raising project
• sets up a volunteer program, e.g. after-school tutoring at a neighbourhood school, visiting a local seniors residence
Social Practices of School and Community: Exploring a Social World
This introduction to ethnography, or using research to study a social world, offers students the opportunity to apply to a new learning situation all the knowledge and strategies they have acquired during the cycle, such as planning projects, collecting data from a variety of sources, and integrating knowledge gained from Competencies 2 (Reading) and 3 (Production). The project may be introduced in the first year of Cycle Two in a limited way, extended in the second year, and is more fully developed in the last year of the cycle. Since topic and choice of research methods are negotiated with the teacher, limits may easily be set for students. This project is important since it allows students to showcase the ability to use all their resources of
12. See also Citizenship and Community Life, in the broad areas of learning, whose focuses of development have been paraphrased for use in this context. See also Ethics and Religious
Culture: Competency 3, for the role of dialogue in a classroom community.
13. One of the missions of the school, as stated in Section 1.3 of the QEP, Secondary Cycle Two, is to socialize students in a pluralistic world. “Schools must act as agents of social cohesion by helping students learn how to live together and by fostering a feeling of belonging to a community.”
14. LOVE is a national program for youth who encounter violence; it encourages kids to speak out about their experiences.
Secondary English Language Arts
› 29
Chapter 5

spoken language: it is through discussion, interviewing, questioning and informal conversations that they discover the information and knowledge they need to achieve the purpose of the ethnographic inquiry.
– Discusses the nature of ethnography with peers and teacher, noting how it differs from other kinds of research:
• it is essentially an inquiry into the social practices of a community or social world
• its aim is to discover knowledge by systematically documenting a milieu or a way of life and interpreting the data collected (documentation and interpretation are essential elements of ethnography)
• its methods include research, observation, use of surveys and questionnaires, interviewing, informal conversations, and taking field notes to record specific data from these sources
• the researcher is both a participant in the social world being studied and its observer and interpreter
– Negotiates topic with teacher and peers, considering own everyday experiences in these various social worlds and defining some aspects that may be explored. For example:
• peer worlds: language habits of peers–how they communicate with friends, parents, other adults; friendship and dating patterns; fashion and style preferences
• school worlds: cafeteria as a public space–protocols, rituals, seating arrangements
• family worlds: family traditions and rituals; values, identities and beliefs; family history
• community and neighbourhood worlds: values and beliefs; unique features; public spaces–who uses them and for what purposes; history of a local building; notable people and places
– Formulates a research question appropriate to the chosen topic, e.g. what are the people in this community like or what is an important issue in this social world?
– With the support of teacher, draws up a research plan, outlining chosen methods of gathering data, the sources to be used, persons to be interviewed or talked to, and other resources needed, and makes advance
Québec Education Program preparations, e.g. prepares a questionnaire, arranges an interview. See
Inquiry Process and Strategies for Collecting Data above.
– Establishes a framework, drawing on known protocols for planning and carrying out project, e.g. sets up schedule of conferences with teacher and peer support group. See Independent Units of Study above for more information.
– Immerses self in the social world being explored, i.e. experiences the social world as a participant, and takes field notes to document observations and other information gathered in informal conversations, interviews, surveys, and so on
– Organizes the project into two stages: first, collecting, documenting and organizing data; and second, interpreting data and drawing generalizations to be used in the presentation of the project
– Transfers knowledge about how to examine and interpret social phenomena of a community, how to use documentary sources, and how to present data in a timeline, graph or map 15
– Applies knowledge of using statistics and of designing graphs and tables, as needed 16
– Analyzes the data collected, looking for patterns of behaviour, e.g. makes generalizations from this analysis and decides how to present these findings to peers and teacher
– Specifies criteria for evaluating both the project and the presentation, e.g.
use of available resources, use of spoken language abilities, choice of methods for collecting data, positive aspects of the project
– Presents the spoken text to the audience, seeks feedback, and discusses further uses for the research, e.g. offers it as an article to a local newspaper; presents it at a parent-teacher meeting; uses it as the basis of another, more extensive ethnographic project
15. See also History and Citizenship Education for further information on these concepts.
16. See Mathematics for information on these topics.
› 30
Chapter 5

– Repertoire of genres and texts
– Reader’s stance
– Values and beliefs
– Knowledge and personal experiences
– Questions / critical judgment
– Tastes and preferences
– Purposes and intentions for reading
– Strategies and processes
– Social functions (purposes/intentions)
– Spoken, written, media texts
– Codes and conventions
– Constructed meanings, messages
– Representation of values and beliefs
– Mode/multimodal
– Affordances
– Open or closed to interpretation
– Sustained time for reading
– Independent reading
– Response groups, class discussion
– Assigned and negotiated texts
– Assigned texts reflect students’ interests
– Respect and value for multiple points of view and interpretations
– Purposes and intentions for reading
– Opportunities to reflect on and self-evaluate progress
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 31
Chapter 5

Our experiences in the worlds of family, work and community are increasingly mediated by powerful texts. These texts represent sociocultural values and beliefs, promote viewpoints and influence our actions in society—from the school, seeking help from the teacher to resolve progressively more complex issues when working with information and concepts in different texts. In regular conferences throughout Cycle One, individual students discussed their reading strategies and text preferences, and assessed their development way we vote to the food we eat. The presence of new technologies has resulted in an explosion of both multimodal texts that incorporate different representational systems, such as word and image, and multigenre texts that integrate the structures and features of genres that were once considered distinct. For these reasons, it informally, as a means of setting specific learning goals.
It is essential that our students develop the fluency and strategies to enable them not only to understand what they read,
Since texts are deliberate social constructs, it is important to stress the connection between the social function and the structure and features of specific genres, including the multigenre text . In order to provide a variety of situations in which is essential that our students develop the fluency and strategies to enable them not only to understand but also to recognize the many ways that meanings and messages are designed to influence readers.
students make these connections, the Reading competency incorporates aspects of Competency 1 what they read, but also to recognize the many ways that meanings and messages are designed to
(Talk) and Competency 3 (Production). For example, students talk in order to discover the ways that influence readers. Therefore, reading in the SELA2 program and in this competency is understood to include spoken, written and media texts, in specific genres shape the meanings they construct, leading to more deliberate interpretations of texts, and read in order to research oral which listening and viewing are considered to be other forms of reading.
Adolescents entering Cycle Two are already well on the way to becoming presentations. Similarly, students read different genres as models for their own productions.
lifelong readers who have developed a reading profile comprised of the books and other texts that they like to read. Used to exercising personal choice in reading material, they possess a repertoire of reliable reading strategies that they apply with increasing control. In addition to personal favourites, students have read literary, popular and information-based texts that are appropriate for their age group. When responding to texts, they are beginning to work collaboratively with peers, listening to and commenting on different responses. They are able to identify the structures and features of some familiar texts, such as recognizing some of the ways in which a hero/heroine in a traditional adventure story, movie or television show is portrayed. When researching a topic or subject of personal interest, students entering Cycle Two still require some guidance from the teacher, especially concerning the organization and classification of pertinent information. They continue to develop independent work habits until the end of secondary
As well, the cross-curricular competencies play an important role in developing reading fluency. In particular, this competency draws on CCC 1:
Uses information by integrating its focus and key features into the strategies that students develop in order to make sense of information-based texts.
The cross-curricular competency Uses creativity is cited in the section of the
Program Content that deals with the response process, since students not only call on their creativity in delving into the meanings in texts, but also develop the capacity to take risks, play with ideas and envisage the possibilities inherent in, for example, beautifully crafted works of literature.
As students construct interpretations of different texts, by examining the contexts in which they were created and in which they are read, they learn to exercise critical judgment , another of the cross-curricular competencies.
This is an important feature of the SELA2 program, since fluent, versatile
Québec Education Program
› 32
Chapter 5

readers develop in a rich, literate environment that encourages them to stretch their capacity to make sense of texts in different contexts and for a
Reading is both a source of deep personal satisfaction as well as an essential part of life in society.
variety of purposes. Reading in the SELA2 program is valued as both a source of deep personal satisfaction as well as an essential part of life in society. The broad areas of learning also provide a number of contexts drawn from issues of interest to young people; teachers are encouraged to consult this section of the QEP when creating situations in which students read and discuss texts.
Talk is also an important component of the Reading competency. In SELA2, students are encouraged to see themselves as members of a classroom community where their input is valued and respected. Through such activities as reading circles, students are able to discuss the texts they have read as well as share their ideas and questions. By respecting and supporting a love of reading, and modelling their own literate behaviour, teachers encourage all of their students to become lifelong readers.
The Reading competency continues the tradition of teaching English
Language Arts by recognizing that the central role of the English Language
Arts teacher is to develop literacy for life. For this reason, we ask Secondary
Cycle Two teachers to concentrate on extending the love of reading fostered by their Cycle One colleagues and to share their own reading interests and literacy with their students. The different sections of the competency place particular emphasis on the literacy of the teacher as a primary resource in
In the Cycle Two classroom community, the freedom to read and find personal satisfaction in the reading experience is critical to the development of strong, fluent readers. With the guidance and support of their teacher, students are prepared for the complexity of the texts they will encounter in their post-secondary education, in the world of work and in their lives. The the development of lifelong readers. Literate individuals often take for granted the depth of knowledge they bring to texts, including their repertoire of reading strategies and their capacity to construct critical interpretations of an array of different messages and meanings. The direct teaching of key features of this competency provide a more precise definition of how reading and listening to spoken, written and media texts are viewed in the
SELA2 program. These include the role of the student’s reading profile, stance and strategies to make sense of texts, reader response that focuses on the essential reading strategies, the modelling of literate behaviours, such as building a repertoire of personal favourites and discussing books with other readers, as well as opportunities for students to develop some of the qualities associated with a
“model reader” 17 are fundamental to the development of this competency.
importance of talk as a means of clarifying the reader’s initial ideas, and the interpretation of texts as a measured response that draws on both the world of the reader and the world of the text.
The student’s reading profile, which includes familiar texts and reading
Readers call on their reading profile when they read.
This profile comprises familiar texts drawn from their reading experience, as well as the reading strategies strategies, serves as an essential resource in the development of reading fluency.
that they have developed and that they rely upon.
Individual students extend their reading profile in a
classroom community where personal choice of reading material is valued, encouraged and respected.
The Reading competency accommodates the needs and interests of students with varied abilities and learning styles. By including spoken and media texts into the reading family, as well as quality young adult literature, students are supported in their development as strong, fluent readers. While individual reading preferences are honoured, teachers challenge their students by recommending texts that are more difficult and/or complex. Teachers further guide their students by reinforcing different reading and research strategies.
Fluency develops in direct proportion to the amount of time we spend reading, the variety of texts we read, and the degree to which we are encouraged to discover and extend the pleasures of the reading experience.
17. The term “model reader” derives from the work of Umberto Eco. We use the expression here to mean a reader who has learned to read and interpret spoken, written and media texts from a more circumspect and knowledgeable position.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 33
Chapter 5

It follows, then, that readers who are deprived of reading a range of texts have a very narrow reading profile, as do readers who have been encouraged to always read for the same purpose. For this reason, the reading strategies in this competency refer both to meaning-making processes as we read and to our knowledge about the purpose and function of the structures, features, codes and conventions of different genres in different contexts as we read.
An important characteristic of literate behaviour is the ability to connect one’s reading stance , or relationship to the text being read , to the reading context and to textual details. To a great extent, it is the reader’s stance that activates the reading strategies we use to build sense as we read, enabling us to focus attention on the meaning-making process. Readers learn to shift and combine stances in classrooms that invite them to engage actively in making sense of a range of texts that are interesting and relevant to readers of their own age and experience.
Given the fact that the reading process takes place beneath the surface, the
“readings” that students produce are constructed as they read . When they begin to talk about a text, it is their responses that tell us what stance they took as they read and how this stance was influenced by the reading context.
For example, if students are reading a series of instructions, in order to follow them, they assume a stance that focuses their attention on remembering details and sequence, producing an efferent reading.
In contrast, students who are encouraged to sink into a story they find interesting favour a stance that takes them into the world of the text, producing an aesthetic reading.
The interpretation of texts begins with a reader’s initial response to one or more readings of a text. By considering textual details in light of their own experiences and knowledge, as well as the ways readers are situated or positioned by a text, students begin to develop critical judgment. As they continue to respond to texts through talk, adolescents develop the habit of questioning a text and themselves, in order to discover why they make sense of it as they do. Furthermore, through discussion with their peers, students learn to respect and accommodate the responses of others. The role of exploratory talk in learning and thinking is key since, in effect, this questioning creates a different relationship between reader and text from the one that guided the initial readings of the text. In the interface between reader, text and context , the student constructs her/his interpretation of the text, where interpretation is understood to mean subsequent readings that
Québec Education Program embody both the world of the reader and the world of the text.
In Cycle
Two, students learn to connect the social function of a text, its contextual attributes and its features to the meanings they construct. In particular, emphasis is placed on drawing inferences about the view of the world presented in the text, its degree of openness to multiple perspectives and the ways in which writers/producers shape meaning to have a deliberate impact upon readers. These steps are important in the process of learning to interpret spoken, written and media texts, since they bring texts into a social and cultural context.
Students’ interpretations are expressed in both conventional and less traditional forms, e.g. a debate on an issue raised by a particular text, a diary written by a fictional character, a newspaper from the period in which a play was written, or a research paper on a historical period depicted in a novel. However, given the developmental realities of adolescence, the ability to adopt the stance of a reader who stands back from the text in order to question the meaning(s) it holds for her/him in a deliberate, critical fashion takes place over the three years of Cycle Two, consolidating for the majority of students in the final year of schooling.
› 34
Chapter 5

Deepens own meaning(s) of a text in discussions with other readers • Situates meanings within own experiences and the world of the text, in order to transform initial readings into more conscious interpretations • Considers possible reasons for own
Reads for pleasure and to learn
• Draws on prior experience and the features of a genre to make sense of a text • Adjusts reading strategies and responses and the responses of others to clarify and reshape the relationship between self as reader and the text • Shares
Integrated Profile in teacher-student conferences stance to the context • Develops research and organizational strategies for working with information
Explains the impact of a text on self as reader by returning to its social functions, as well as the way meanings and messages are constructed • Draws on own reading profile, including knowledge of textual structures and features, to locate textual details that support own interpretations • Constructs interpretations that embody both own world and the world of the text
– Adjusts reading strategies and stance to build and sustain meaning
– Draws on discussions with peers to extend, reshape and clarify own responses
– Makes connections between reader, text and context to justify own interpretations
– Applies research and organizational strategies appropriate to context
– Evaluates own growth as a reader of spoken, written and media texts
The student participates in a classroom community, reading spoken, written and media texts that reflect her/his personal interests and preferences as well as those that expand her/his reading profile. S/he talks about her/his own reading interests and reads for pleasure and to learn. The student has developed a repertoire of reliable reading strategies that s/he draws on to make sense of both the familiar texts in her/his profile and those that are less familiar. The student builds meaning by considering the interrelationship(s) between the structures, features, codes and conventions of texts, the context in which they were produced and the significance and/or impact they have on self as reader.
The student demonstrates the ability to shift and combine reading stances in relation to the context for reading, i.e.
purpose, task and audience. The student shares her/his responses with teachers and peers with clarity and confidence. In these discussions, s/he draws on reading stance and profile to locate textual details that justify and extend the meaning(s) s/he finds in the text. When involved in research, the student uses effective strategies to construct and organize her/ his controlling idea(s), research question(s) or information into a coherent text.
The student follows a process to construct an interpretation of a text that interrelates her/his own world and the world of the text in explicit ways. The student is able to interrelate how the constructed nature of a text, i.e. its structures, features, codes and conventions, are used to achieve a recognized social purpose and their impact on her/him as a reader. As well, the student considers her/his own characteristics as a reader (e.g. opinions, values, experiences, point of view), the characteristics of the writer/producer of a text (e.g. purpose, intent, motive, message), the context in which the text is produced and the degree to which it is open or closed to interpretation. When working with familiar concepts and genres, s/he weaves this understanding into her/his interpretation(s) with confidence and fluency. Intended for a specified audience, these interpretations take both conventional and innovative forms over the three years of the cycle and comprise a balanced representation of spoken, written and media texts by the end of Cycle Two.
Throughout the cycle, the student organizes and maintains a record 18 of her/his development as a reader of spoken, written and media texts. S/he evaluates her/his reading development by presenting her/his Integrated Profile in student-teacher conferences that take place regularly throughout the cycle, as well as at the end of the cycle. During these conferences, the student describes current text preferences, reports changes over time in her/his interests, indicates texts that have been recommended to her/him, and discusses her/his repertoire of reading strategies. By the end of Cycle
Two, the student is conscious of her/his reading profile, the purposes and pleasures s/he finds in reading and views her/himself as a lifelong reader.
18. This record provides evidence of the student’s development as a reader over time, e.g. a list of the texts s/he has read, a response log, notes, ideas and/or questions that arise during reading and in discussion groups.
› 35
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts

Critical literacy develops in pedagogical contexts where essential knowledge, strategies and processes are first demonstrated and then applied, initially under the teacher’s guidance and then with increasing independence on the part of students. The ultimate goal is the development of a confident, autonomous learner who applies declarative, strategic and procedural knowledge to read and interpret spoken, written and media texts. There are some common characteristics of the ELA classroom over the three years of Cycle Two that support the development of all three competencies in SELA2. These are described in the TLE Context and promote the type of classroom environment in which the development of the Reading competency takes place.
In the Reading competency, development is seen in two key areas: the students’ reading profile and their capacity to situate their interpretations of texts in the relationship between reader, text and context. The charts that follow describe the kinds of teaching-learning situations that promote development in each of these areas. These situations must involve significant tasks that increase in complexity over the cycle, demand an active mobilization of resources to accomplish them adequately, and encourage the students’ development of autonomy.
Québec Education Program
› 36
Chapter 5

Repertoire of Resources: Reading Profile
Students’ reading profiles are their primary resource when reading and interpreting familiar and unfamiliar texts. The reading profile comprises a repertoire of strategies, including those that readers use to construct meaning, different reading stances, familiar genres and modes and other resources such as areas of personal expertise and interest. Situations that promote the development of the students’ reading profiles move from demonstration to application, and from the introduction of unfamiliar genres and modes to repeated opportunities to work with them for different purposes.
Reading Profile
Reading strategies
Strategies for understanding, researching and organizing information
Year One
Familiar texts
Wide range of contexts for reading
Focus: degree of control and self-monitoring.
Specifically, the connection between reading stance and context, i.e. purpose for reading
Unfamiliar texts
Familiar contexts with teacher-modelling of selfmonitoring strategies and opportunities for students to practice
Opportunities to discuss strategies with teacher
Familiar texts
Focus: teacher-modelling of fundamental strategies to interpret information, such as retelling or paraphrasing information
Reading strategies
– Guided exploration of how writers/ producers seek to convince readers to take an action or accept an argument
– Opportunities to explore how texts are constructed to influence readers
Research process
– Choice of topic/theme negotiated between teacher and student
– Support when making outline and determining controlling idea
– Teacher demonstration of making generalizations and drawing conclusions
Québec Education Program Languages
Year Two
Familiar texts
Wide range of contexts for reading
Focus: control of reading strategies and different reading stances
Unfamiliar texts
Familiar contexts invite students to adapt/modify the resources in their reading profile, including reader’s stance
Support from teacher as required
Familiar texts
Focus: teacher-modelling of strategies that make texts more coherent, specifically, use of questioning to frame more critical reasoning
Reading strategies
– Guided exploration of how writers/ producers seek to convince readers to take an action or accept an argument
– Opportunities to explore how texts are constructed to influence readers
Research process
– Choice of topic/theme negotiated between teacher and student
– Control of organizational strategies: guidance, as needed during phases of research process, when making generalizations and drawing conclusions
Year Three
Familiar texts
New and stimulating reading contexts
Focus: consolidation of resources in students’ reading profile
Unfamiliar texts
Familiar contexts invite students to adapt/modify the resources in their reading profile, including reader’s stance
Support from teacher as required
Familiar texts
Focus: teacher-modelling of constructed nature of text and its influence on readers, specifically use of questioning to frame more critical reasoning
Reading strategies
– Opportunities to discuss the interplay between the constructed nature of texts and their influence on readers, with teacher guidance
Research process
– Choice of topic/theme negotiated between teacher and student
– Use of critical judgment when selecting, organizing and presenting information
– Control of different aspects of process from start to finish, including research and organizational strategies, as well as coherence of text
Secondary English Language Arts
› 37
Chapter 5

Reading Profile
Required genres and modes
Constructing meaning: concepts, notions, subjects and controlling ideas
Year One
A balance between literary, popular and information-based texts produced for adolescents, as well as some produced for adults
Written: narrative genres intended for adolescents; texts that explain and report
Spoken, media, multigenre: popular and information-based texts in mass circulation on issues related to youth
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Narrative texts and popular texts in mass-circulation:
– student response groups provide opportunity to discuss first reading(s) of texts
– making connection(s) between textual details, meaning-making strategies and understanding
– accommodation of different points of view and new perspectives
Year Two
A balance between literary, popular and information-based texts produced for adolescents, as well as those produced for adults
Written: narrative genres intended for adolescents and adults; introduction of texts that argue and persuade on issues related to youth and/or in popular culture
Spoken, media, mulitgenre: popular and information-based texts in mass circulation on local and national issues
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Narrative texts, popular and information-based texts in mass-circulation:
– student response groups and class discussions provide opportunity for teacher to model questions readers ask of a text in order to clarify its significance to them
– demonstration of locating and selecting textual details that support a reader’s position/point of view
– accommodation of different points of view and new perspectives
– use of logic, with teacher guidance, to evaluate notions, concepts and arguments in texts
Year Three
A balance between literary, popular and information-based texts produced for adolescents, as well as those produced for adults
Written: narrative genres intended for adolescents and adults; texts that argue and persuade, including, with guidance, some traditional forms, such as essay or editorial
Spoken, media, multigenre: popular and information-based texts in mass circulation on international issues, such as political debates or documentaries
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Narrative texts, popular and information-based texts in mass-circulation:
– student response groups support students’ construction of meaning(s) of increasingly complex texts
– accommodation of different points of view and new perspectives
– use of logic, with teacher guidance, to evaluate notions, concepts and arguments in texts
– introduction of the concept of open and closed texts, i.e. the degree to which the text supports multiple readings or interpretations
– guided exploration of open and closed texts, with focus on specific structures, features, codes and conventions
› 38
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

Interpretation: The Relationship Between Reader, Text and Context
There is a synergy between the development of the resources in students’ reading profiles and their interpretations of spoken, written and media texts: it is in the act of constructing meaning that they learn to mobilize these resources. In order for students to develop competency, the learning situations progress from teacher demonstration to application, gradually becoming more complex over the three years of the cycle. As well, the relationship between texts and contexts shifts from the familiar to the unfamiliar, e.g. familiar text in unfamiliar context, unfamiliar text in familiar context. Of equal importance is a balance between action and reflection, since frequent opportunities to reflect on the processes they use to read and interpret texts help students develop self-monitoring strategies and greater control over the resources in their repertoire.
Reader, Text,
Context
Interpreting texts
Peer discussion
Year One
Narrative:
Focus: selection of textual details that substantiate ideas; opportunities to make connection(s) between text, similar texts in Reading Profile and life experience(s)
Popular and information-based texts in mass circulation:
– teacher demonstration of strategies to determine intended audience and characteristics of writer/producer to develop clarity and confidence
Teacher guidance in creating integrated contexts for students to express ideas, opinions, interpretations
Narrative:
Year Two
Focus: opportunities for students to demonstrate fluency
Popular and information-based texts in mass circulation:
– teacher-modelling to demonstrate how initial reading(s) of a text may be worked into a more considered interpretation
– use of textual details to determine how readers are situated or positioned by a text, including its impact on them as readers
Student response groups provide forum for immediate feedback to ideas, opinions, etc.
Balance between teacher- and student-initiated integrated contexts to express students’ ideas, opinions, interpretations, point of view, etc.
Year Three
Narrative, popular and information-based texts in mass circulation:
Focus: development of initial reading(s) into considered interpretation(s) include some or all of the following:
– evaluation of significance of text for self
– connection(s) between text, its (social and cultural) context and self as reader
– view of the world depicted in text and its impact on self as reader
Texts that argue and persuade:
– teacher-modelling of effective meaning-making strategies
– guided examination of how the characteristics of readers influence decisions made by writers/producers
Student response groups provide forum for immediate feedback to ideas, opinions, etc.
Integrated contexts for production of argumentative and persuasive texts on issues/ topics that appeal to students of this age group
› 39
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts

Reader, Text,
Context
Reflection
Year One Year Two Year Three
Self-evaluation
Exploration in informal student response groups or in written record of:
– reasons for own interpretations
– impact of text on self as reader
Exploration in informal student response groups or in written record of:
– multiple interpretations of certain texts
– impact of texts on other readers
Exploration in informal student response groups or in written record of:
– characteristics of open and closed texts
– intention(s) of writers/producers of argumentative and persuasive texts
– view of world depicted in text
Regular opportunities to review and share contents of Integrated Profile
Teacher-student conferences focus on: reading and meaning-making strategies, connections between personal interests and reading preferences
› 40
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

Please note that all the resources, strategies, processes and texts that follow are compulsory for the end of Cycle Two.
The students’ reading profile is comprised of the spoken, written and media texts in their repertoire, including prior reading experiences, personal tastes and text preferences, the different reader’s stances used and reading strategies that include strategies for working with information in texts.
Repertoire of Required Genres
Throughout the three years of Cycle Two, students read literary, popular and information-based texts for pleasure and to learn. The texts students read reflect a balance between those that are selected on an individual basis and those introduced by others, including the teacher. For specific required genres for this competency, please see the Repertoire of Required Genres.
It should be noted that in the first year of Cycle Two, priority in terms of literature is given to young adult literature, with a gradual transition to a balance of texts written for adolescents and adults in the last two years of the cycle. It is understood that all texts read by students in Cycle Two, and particularly those that fall within the category of literary genres, include an equal representation of male and female authors and characters, of diverse cultural groups and of writers from Québec and Canada.
In terms of information-based texts, priority is given to explanations and reports in the first year of Cycle Two and extends to include expository genres that argue and persuade in the last two years of the cycle. It is anticipated that teachers concentrate both on the structures and features of these texts, while also focusing students’ attention on their social function and the relationships they make possible, e.g. a debate is a genre that allows us to express different points of view in a formal, collegial atmosphere where appreciation is shown for the rhetorical skills and logic of a speaker, on the basis of which a debate is won or lost.
Québec Education Program Languages
ReaderÕs Stance: Constructing a Reading of a Text
The stance taken by a reader as s/he reads makes different interpretations of a text possible, since it focuses her/his attention on some elements more than others and is influenced by the demand of the context/situation in which reading takes place. The stances described below distinguish themselves by virtue of where and on what the reader’s attention is focused, rather than in terms of degrees of sophistication. It is also worth remembering that any spoken, written or media text can be read from all three stances.
Throughout Cycle Two, the student reads in contexts or situations that promote the following relationship between the reader and literary, popular and information-based texts:
– Focuses on the world of the text to construct an aesthetic reading, e.g.
makes sense of the text by relating personally to characters and events, by fully entering the world of the text, by comparing own feelings or actions or decisions with those of the character(s)/subject(s)
– Focuses on a topic and/or issue that is of interest to her/him to construct an efferent 19 reading, e.g. makes sense of the text by coming to terms with the ways in which a topic has been developed by a writer/producer; by reading with the intention of remembering details and/or examples, by noting organizational devices, such as the use of classification and sources.
20
– Focuses on the relationship between self as reader and the text to construct an interpretive reading, e.g. makes sense of the text by concentrating on relationships: between self as reader and her/his response to the argument that is developed or the action that is proposed; between self as reader and her/his response to the choices an author makes in telling a story
19. For a more in-depth understanding of “aesthetic,” “efferent” and “interpretive” readings, see
Louise M. Rosenblatt, The Reader The Text The Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work .
20. For example, students may consider the ways in which the perspective/point of view of a journalist influences the information and sources cited in a newspaper report.
Secondary English Language Arts
› 41
Chapter 5

Essential Reading Strategies 21
The strategies listed below are those used by fluent readers of all ages. They apply to any genre of text in any medium. It is understood that Cycle Two teachers build explicit teaching of these strategies into their planning in each year of Cycle Two. Since texts become more complex throughout the cycle, as do the contexts in which reading takes place, it is anticipated that these macro-strategies are revisited frequently.
– Draws on teacher modelling of proficient reading strategies to enhance and develop own strategies
– Activates relevant prior textual knowledge before, during and after reading text(s) to monitor the meaning(s) s/he is making, e.g. uses what is known about a writer/producer and her/his style to make predictions, draws on knowledge of structures and features of a specific genre, applies knowledge of codes and conventions particular to specific texts
– Activates relevant prior personal knowledge and experience to make sense of a text which is frequently expressed in text-to-self connections, text-to-world connections, text-to-text connections, e.g. situates and stores newly acquired information in relation to what s/he already knows, compares writer’s/producer’s view of the world with own
– Asks questions of self, writers(s) and text(s) as s/he reads to clarify and focus reading
– Determines the most important ideas/messages/themes in a text, e.g. uses own conclusions about important ideas to focus reading and exclude peripheral or unimportant details
– Creates visual and other sensory images from text during and after reading, to deepen understanding, e.g. may include visual, auditory and other connections to text
– Draws inferences from a text, e.g. draws conclusions, makes critical judgments, constructs unique interpretations, predicts, forms new ideas
– Retells or synthesizes what s/he has read, e.g. attends to the most important information and the quality of the synthesis itself to better understand the text
– Uses a variety of fix-up strategies to repair comprehension when it breaks down, e.g. selects fix-up strategies from one of the six language systems
(pragmatic, schematic, semantic, syntactic, lexical or graphophonic) to best solve a given reading problem in a given situation, such as reading on, rereading, using the context and syntax, sounding out
Working With Information
When working with information, the reader’s stance focuses the student’s attention on extrapolating information from various sources with a specific purpose or intention in mind. This section of the content draws explicitly on
CCC 1: Uses information and, more specifically, its key features. Together with the essential learning described in CCC 1, the following strategies, traditionally treated as English Language Arts content, have been added.
22
Research strategies
– Uses controlling idea/research question(s)/thesis statement to guide reading and research
– Systematizes the information-gathering process in light of controlling idea/research question(s)/thesis statement. See CCC 1: Uses information
– Consults primary and secondary sources. See also History and Citizenship
Education: Competency 2 and Science and Technology: Competency 3
– Adapts or adjusts controlling idea/research question(s)/thesis statement and research outline in light of findings
21. The strategies in this section are drawn from research about the strategies used by proficient readers to make sense of texts. It is recommended that these strategies be taught and reviewed throughout Cycle Two, since their development is directly related to the increasingly complex texts that students work with throughout the cycle.
22. It is understood that the strategies in this section are applied in the context of a research report, an analytical essay, a classroom debate or some other situation where the student is extrapolating information related to a specific topic/subject/idea. The student works with texts that are drawn from genres that traditionally store information, such as encyclopedias and some non-fiction genres, i.e. “how-to” books or articles, as well as from genres that are used to communicate information and that represent it from a particular point of view and/or perspective, such as televised documentaries, news reports, newspaper and magazine articles and non-fiction, e.g. historical texts, science textbooks, local/national/international interviews.
› 42
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

– Applies a variety of exploration and analytical strategies. See also Science and Technology
– Uses the following features of information-based texts to locate specific information: headings, chapter divisions, table of contents, footnotes, index, bibliography, and visual information such as timelines, graphs, maps, tables, diagrams, illustrations, video excerpts 23
Organizational strategies
– Uses controlling idea/research question(s)/thesis statement as a guide when classifying, sequencing, summarizing, citing sources
– Synthesizes information gathered from multiple sources, using controlling idea/research question(s)/thesis statement as a guide
– Makes accurate generalizations, i.e. based on findings
– Draws conclusions that are coherent with the information presented and/ or controlling idea/thesis statement/research question(s)
Production Strategies
– Produces a text within a specific context
– See Competency 1 (Talk) and Competency 3 (Production)
The classroom community provides an environment where students discuss with peers and teacher their first impressions about a text they have read.
Students gain a kind of distance from their initial reading(s) of a text in order to begin to develop—in conversation with others—their interpretation(s) of the text. In other words, talk provides the medium and the resource for a more circumspect and critical reading of the text and, as such, it occurs at different moments during the transition from a first reading to an interpretation of a text. Therefore, by its very nature, this process is recursive rather than linear . As well, talk provides the means through which students transfer and integrate knowledge about the different genres of spoken, written and media texts into their initial responses. See Competency 1 (Talk):
Rhetorical Strategies and Affordances of Genres and CCC 4: Uses creativity.
Follows a response process to construct a first reading of a text
– Interrelates reading stance, reading profile and the structural organization of the text (i.e. its features, codes and conventions, and affordances) to make sense of themes and/or ideas and/or information for self
– Keeps, maintains and uses a written record in order to keep track of ideas, questions during reading and in discussion groups, e.g. notes, readingresponse log
– Accommodates responses of peers as part of the discussion process, e.g.
acknowledges and supports different impressions, ideas and points of view 24
Develops profile of self as a reader
– Expresses own characteristics as a reader to account for the meanings in the text, e.g. shares connections between own world and the world of the text, compares own values with those presented in the text, draws on personal bias, experience with other texts, attitudes, opinions, personal expertise
– Calls upon intertextual knowledge to draw associations between a text and other texts read, viewed or listened to, i.e. based on texts in own reading profile, personal experiences and knowledge
– Works with the constructed nature of the text in order to account for its impact on self and others, e.g. sees that a television commercial has more impact on teens than adults and provides substantiation from the text; notices some of the affordances and impact on readers
– Demonstrates increasing control over the structures and features of texts and context upon own response(s), e.g. identifies how juxtaposed images in a magazine ad cue her/him to its target audience, chooses elements of a text that shape own view of the protagonist, recognizes the features in a multimodal text such as a feature story in a newspaper that lead her/him to draw particular conclusions and to predict the bias of its producers
23. See History and Citizenship Education for further information regarding techniques for reading visual information such as timelines, contingency tables, graphs and maps
24. The QEP presents a number of broad areas of learning which deal with major contemporary issues facing adolescents. Through the response process, students are able to explore a variety of topics and themes and share their ideas with their peers in an environment that is secure and judgment-free. For example, in a unit on Health and Well-Being , students can explore the issue of peer pressure by discussing the impact of their choices on their health and well-being, as well as ways to behave in a safe and healthy manner.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 43
Chapter 5

– Steps back in order to reflect on the significance the text holds for her/him
– Draws on resources to evaluate own progress, e.g. monitors own development by reviewing contents of Integrated Profile on a regular basis
Shares reading profile in teacher-student conferences
Dialogue between teacher and student about how, when, why and what the student reads is essential to the development of strong, fluent readers. In these discussions, the teacher concentrates on giving students a language to talk about themselves as readers and in helping them to consolidate a repertoire of essential reading strategies and processes. See Competency 1
(Talk): Integrated Profile
– Describes reliable reading strategies and how s/he uses them to resolve reading problems
– Describes current tastes and text preferences, as well as changes over time
– Describes uses of and own purposes for reading
– Develops own criteria to monitor progress and development over time
Sees self as a member of the classroom community of readers and contributes to its development
– Recommends texts and/or accepts the recommendations of peers
– Reads and responds constructively to texts produced by peers
– Engages in extended reading activities, e.g. attending literary festivals; publishing a students’ review of books; doing surveys of reading habits among family members, among friends, at places of work; communicating with writers on the Internet. See Competency 1 (Talk): Integrated Profile, as well as Competency 3 (Production): Develops Style
The student constructs her/his interpretation(s) of the text in discussions with peers, where interpretation is understood to mean subsequent readings that embody both the world of the reader and the world of the text.
However, given the developmental realities of adolescence, the ability to adopt the stance of a reader who stands back from the text in order to question the meaning it holds for her/him in a deliberate, critical fashion takes place over
Québec Education Program the three years of Cycle Two, consolidating for the majority of students in the final year of secondary school. See also CCC 3: Exercises critical judgment.
Draws inferences about the view of the world presented in a text 25
– Identifies dominant elements and interprets their use, e.g. point of view, specific literary conventions, structure and sequence of argument, patterns of cause and effect
– Identifies the characteristics of the writer/producer and evaluates how these influence meaning, i.e. how stance, sociocultural context, values and/or beliefs shape the world of the text
– Explores how power relationships are constructed in the text, e.g. role of newscaster as credible authority, conflict between the teen hero in a novel and parents, use of register
– Examines how language (word, sound and image) is shaped to present ideas and information, e.g. looks at how news is reported as objective and true
– Makes connections between the depiction of different groups in texts and the context or setting of a text, e.g. a contemporary short story that takes place during the time of the Salem witch trials and is told from the perspective of a young woman who is accused of being a witch; a letter to the editor written by a commuter during a transit strike
– Distinguishes between “open” and “closed” texts: 26
• analyzes the degree to which the text may be considered “open” to multiple perspectives/interpretations (i.e. is complex enough to allow different perspectives to emerge) and interprets how these influence the view of the world presented. For example, in a literary text, constructs different interpretations about the view of the world
25. See also Ethics and Religious Culture that focuses on the ethical domain, including human values, diverse points of view and different belief systems, and its impact on personal and world issues.
26. The majority of students demonstrate the capacity to work with this concept by the last year of Cycle Two. In the first two years of Cycle Two, the student requires teacher guidance and modelling of the concept in different texts.
› 44
Chapter 5

• analyzes the degree to which the text may be considered “closed” to multiple perspectives (i.e. runs along formulaic lines that indicate its lack of complexity and make only a limited number of perspectives possible) and interprets how this influences the view of the world, e.g.
in a pulp romance novel or a comic book, recognizes some elements of plot structure that are formulaic and repetitive
Justifies her/his interpretation(s) of texts on the basis of own fluency as a reader
– Evaluates the way specific codes and conventions of a spoken/written/ media text are employed to have an impact upon the assumptions, actions, values and beliefs of readers: 27
• codes and conventions of a specific genre that are employed to have an impact on readers in general or on a target audience in particular
• mode(s) of representation (sound, word and image) that influence the message(s)/meaning(s) of a text and how these reveal the intention(s) of the writer/producer(s)
• linguistic and textual features that situate or position the reader, e.g.
connotations and denotations, stereotypes and bias, aspects of characterization and setting that evoke a specific emotion or response, appeals to mainstream values and beliefs
• issues and topics that present alternative values, beliefs, lifestyles in order to evaluate meanings for self as part of a process of interpreting a text 28
• features and conventions of favourite genres and how these are used to special effect, e.g. in a mystery or a romance novel, in a magazine article
• impact of context on meaning(s) s/he considers significant, e.g. analyzes and resituates the main conflict in a novel written about the Great
Depression by placing it in a modern-day context
– Interrelates characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and self as a reader:
• identifies characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and applies this knowledge to determine how the text is designed to appeal to self as a reader, e.g. writer’s style, producer’s values or intent
• evaluates a perspective or point of view and its impact on self as reader, e.g. degree to which it represents a particular world-view and whether or not the world-view is disclosed openly; reliability of source(s)
• recognizes the use of rhetorical strategies, e.g. use of first person to convey attitudes and feelings about an issue/topic, appeals to common beliefs or values in a culture, appeals designed to evoke a certain age group
• recognizes how authors and producers of written persuasion and argument, whose views are accorded great respect in our society and culture, influence her/his interpretation(s), i.e. in particular, of what can be considered factual, objective
• analyzes the representation of different groups, including interest groups, in the press in relation to controlling ideas, opinions, main ideas
– Makes intertextual connections between texts read in and out of class:
• compares and contrasts alternative and mainstream values, mores, lifestyles within a range of literary and popular narratives
• compares and contrasts the sociocultural, literary or historical contexts and conventions in texts, e.g. gender relations in different societies/ cultures/historical periods
– Assumes an individual voice in the interpretation of texts
– Follows a process to produce own interpretations. See Exchanges With
Other Readers, above; Competency 1 (Talk): Inquiry Process, Strategies for
Collecting Data, Independent Units of Study and Social Practices of School and Community: Exploring a Social World. See also Competency 3
(Production): Production Process and Writer/Producer, Text, Context; and
CCC 3: Uses creativity and CCC 4: Exercises critical judgment
27.
Media Literacy , one of the broad areas of learning, offers students the opportunity to further their understanding and awareness of the way various media work and are used and to evaluate their effects. For example, students can investigate a specific item in the news by looking at how people and events are represented in a variety of media; they analyze the distinction between fact and opinion, etc.
28. See also Ethics and Religious Culture.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 45
Chapter 5

– Repertoire of genres and texts
– Writer/Producer’s stances
– Values and beliefs
– Knowledge and personal experiences
– Questions / critical judgment
– Tastes and preferences
– Purposes and intentions for producing texts
– Strategies and processes
– Social functions (purposes/intentions)
– Spoken, written, media texts
– Codes and conventions
– Constructed meanings, messages
– Representation of values and beliefs
– Mode/multimodal
– Affordances
– Sustained time for working on productions
– Negotiated, limited and simulated contexts
– Regular conferences with peers and teacher
– Collaborative media productions
– Texts produced reflect students’ interests
– Access to multiple resources
– Opportunities to reflect on and self-evaluate progress
Québec Education Program
› 46
Chapter 5

We produce texts for many reasons, most notably to think, to communicate and to learn. Through our productions we discover who we are, and what we believe about the world around us and our place in
Being an active participant in the world today involves recognizing the power it. Since texts reflect the values and beliefs of a culture, by producing texts we become cultural producers in our own right. Being an active participant in the world today means knowing how the genres that govern our daily life and potential of genres and their impact on how we communicate.
operate and why they work the way they do. For example, writing a résumé serves the social function of presenting information about ourselves to get a job. Organizing a family photo album serves the social function of storying our lives and recording our memories. These genres have expected conventions to follow—some more rigid than others. For example, the résumé has a predictable format, even if it is personalized. In the case of the photo album, there are many creative and interesting ways to organize and present the photos, such as adding ticket stubs, letters and captions.
Genres articulate the way we communicate, live and work in society. Once we know these basic generic rules, we are free to combine and challenge their conventions to express ourselves in unique and powerful ways. Through our innovations we help shape the way genres evolve. We now write online journals and e-mails, participate in virtual book clubs, and view global news events on television and the Internet in real time. We read and produce multimodal texts that interweave sound, word and image, combine conventions of spoken, written and media language, and often blend genres
(multigenre texts), e.g. the satirical news program.
It is because of the multimodal and multigenre nature of texts today that the Writing and Media competencies from EELA and SELA have merged into a single competency, Production, in Cycle Two. Unless otherwise indicated, the term “producing” subsumes that of “writing.” The focus of this competency is on the decisions students make when producing texts in specific contexts. These decisions are largely based on students’
Québec Education Program Languages understanding of the affordances of each mode and genre, i.e. what a mode and/or genre can offer, its strengths and limitations, and how best it can be combined with other(s) to achieve a purpose and impact a specific audience.
For example, students advertising a fundraising event
(persuasion) may produce either a spoken, written or media text. Each of these texts has inherent limits and benefits and each also has the potential to be effective given the situation. In the case of a spoken text, students may give
The focus is on learning how to make deliberate production decisions in a speech to each class. This is direct, immediate and uses an informal register, but is time consuming and requires special permission. Secondly, they may write an article for the school newspaper that situates the event in the larger light of purpose and intended audience. These decisions reflect students’ awareness of how context of “school spirit.” However, the school newspaper has a limited circulation and a time delay for going to press.
meanings and messages are constructed.
Lastly, students may design flyers to display around the school. This takes advantage of the memorable impact of images and colour, and can be seen over and over by students as they move throughout the school, but provides limited information and costs money to print.
Producers weigh these possibilities to decide which text would be the
“most” effective given their message, purpose and audience. They then craft the text accordingly and justify the choices made. Through these productions, students have firsthand experience learning how texts work from the inside out and can in turn reinvest this experiential knowledge to interpret texts at a deeper level, thus activating the reading-production connection.
Students also make decisions about which strategies and processes to use, depending on the context. While many of these are similar, such as researching support material, revising texts and getting feedback from peers, it is important to remember that writers and media producers also have their own literate practices. For example, writing is often done independently and involves practices such as keeping a writer’s notebook, finding an environment conducive to creativity and, with narrative texts, imagining the
’ideal’ reader. Producing media, on the other hand, is often collaborative
› 47
Chapter 5
Secondary English Language Arts

and includes practices such as negotiating roles and responsibilities, managing time and organizational constraints and, with persuasive texts in particular, characterizing a target audience to market an idea or product effectively. It is for these reasons that we have kept the terms “writer” and
“producer” throughout the competency. As these practices are deeply embedded in the understanding of how written and media texts function within particular communities, it is important that students have many opportunities to produce texts in different modes and genres. In this way they learn to adopt and internalize a variety of processes and strategies to suit different production contexts.
This competency has not subsumed the production of spoken texts. Their specific genres, affordances, codes and conventions are included in the Talk competency. Since the language arts are integrated, the Production and Talk competencies serve each other in a variety of ways. For example, when producing spoken texts, students follow the general production processes and strategies outlined in this competency. As well, when producing written, media and multimodal texts, students draw on strategies and processes outlined in the Talk competency such as using the inquiry process, working collaboratively, organizing their Integrated Profile and sharing their finished products with the class.
Cycle Two students are prepared to handle the demands of these production contexts because they have developed a rich repertoire of reliable strategies, abilities and literate behaviours through their experiences with the EELA program and the SELA program for Cycle One. These include writing and producing texts based on their own interests and purposes, learning how to work individually and collaboratively, using immersion into texts as a vital resource, and exploring the relationship a producer creates with an audience.
However, in Cycle Two, new challenges are set that demand increasingly more complex ways of using language. For example, students are more actively involved in choosing their contexts for production in negotiation with the teacher, working in an increasingly organized and autonomous fashion in a variety of situations, producing a wider range of texts for more diverse and distant audiences, and manipulating the codes and conventions of texts to impact those audiences.
The Production competency pays particular attention to the development of four cross-curricular competencies. CCC 2: Solves problems is emphasized as students move through various production processes. Some of the skills highlighted include: adopting a flexible approach, troubleshooting, refocusing a topic and/or starting over. As students are encouraged to experiment with new ideas, texts and techniques they develop CCC 4: Uses creativity . Students work both individually and collaboratively, discussing and making decisions about how to proceed, selecting available resources and evaluating the work methods used, thus developing CCC 5: Adopts effective work methods . When students are given the opportunity to reflect on their progress, see themselves as valued members of the classroom community and set realistic goals, they develop CCC 7: Achieves her/his potential.
Differentiation in the Classroom
In a differentiated classroom, the teacher provides each student with the necessary support and resources to succeed. This can be achieved in a variety of ways such as through the narrowing or extension of projects, as well as by varying the complexity of the task, including text and topic selection.
Also, the contexts in which the productions take place can be adjusted, such as the amount of support and/or guidance the student receives, whether s/he is working alone or in a group, and the time allotted to complete the task. Assignments can be tailored to suit the needs of the student’s profile, which includes the strategies and processes used, the stylistic devices tried, as well as the quantity of texts produced. In these ways, the Production competency continues to value each student by accommodating her/his needs, interests, abilities and experiences.
In this classroom, students work at their own pace and challenge themselves to experiment and take risks when they feel comfortable and trust the support of the classroom community. The production of a range of texts offers students with varied abilities and learning styles the opportunity both to highlight their strengths and to extend their repertoire. For example, media texts allow students to work from common experiences and with issues that are immediate and relevant; this familiarity facilitates their ability to participate in class and in small group discussions and to collaborate with others on production teams.
Québec Education Program
› 48
Chapter 5

When producing a text, students always work in a specific context whether through inquiry, action research, an independent unit of study, or an interpretation of their reading. These contexts take many different forms, including ones that are open-ended and designed by students, as well as those that are more specific and structured such as simulations. As students produce texts, they interpret many things such as the audience’s expectations, data and information, and the role they take on in the text.
Their production decisions are also based on social conditions such as their knowledge of modes and genres and their affordances. By analyzing the design choices producers make and practising a variety of techniques in many contexts, students continue to develop their own sense of style. This development is made evident in three ways: through the recognizable features students use in their texts, their reflection on their use of codes and conventions for specific effect, and the use of certain conventions to express their view of the world. Style is often connected to the individual and to writing; however, it is also seen in collective productions such as values, experiences and view of the world, as well as demands from the media and publishing industries. As students produce texts in a variety of contexts, their ability to create relationships between situation comedies and illustrated picture books. The difference between individual and collaborative style
Students use the insights gained from being a producer and an audience member themselves as producers, the texts they construct and their intended audience becomes more conscious to better understand themselves and the experiences of others.
and complex. In part, this ability is developed by consistently reading and responding to the work of peers and others and lies in the level of collaboration, common vision and consensus as to purpose, message and text. In working both individually and collaboratively to produce texts in a variety of modes and genres, students learn to craft texts for a specific purpose and audience. In this way, their stylistic repertoires continue to grow, thus supporting the by talking about production decisions. Through these discussions, students analyze how texts are constructed, how an audience is positioned and how, in turn, this audience positions texts based on their own experiences.
Students learn to actively shape texts to influence a specific audience by characterizing this audience, anticipating their reactions and considering their potential uses of the text. By producing texts about issues which are personally and socially significant, students are able to assume a variety of roles in their work and adopt different stances in order to best achieve their purpose and engage their audience.
development of a confident learner who finds in production a means of unique self-expression.
Producing a text is a literacy event rooted in our lives, and as such it reflects a myriad of concerns, ideas and situations. We shift and change our ways of thinking about a topic, our strategies and how we use language or image, sound and word to suit each situation. Thus, the production process is almost never linear. Through repeated opportunities to produce texts in a variety of contexts, students continue to develop a supple and adaptable production process. They learn to draft, revise, edit and conference over their work, as well as develop imagination, trust their instincts and manage their time. As When producing texts about other people, places and events, students understand the responsibility of representing them with authenticity; therefore, they research to support their position on a topic and/or fictional interpretation, e.g. empathizing with a character to write in her/his voice or learning about the plight of refugees to produce a public service announcement. Students use the insights gained from being a producer and an audience member to better understand themselves and the experiences of others. In Cycle One, students explored the craft of production. In Cycle
Two, they extend their repertoire of resources so that they can more consciously make production decisions. These resources include students’ students become more conscious of their habits as producers of texts, they cultivate those processes, strategies and behaviours that work best, depending on the situation. When students are involved in various production projects, they develop lifelong skills that will serve them beyond the classroom, such as negotiating and working with others, formulating and reformulating plans, adjusting to setbacks, working with multiple constraints, meeting deadlines, establishing priorities, and learning through trial and error.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 49
Chapter 5

Immerses self in texts to learn how they are constructed • Investigates the codes and conventions of various genres • Creates criteria for what makes text(s) effective • Examines the affordances of different modes and genres to make production decisions • Uses models of different texts to apply chosen features in own work • Applies codes and conventions of written and media language • Compares own style in relation to other writers/producers • Develops standards for using language responsibly to represent people, events and ideas
Understands that all texts are constructed in specific contexts for specific audiences and purposes
• Researches as a writer/producer to become more informed, to create authentic contexts and to characterize an audience • Assumes various roles in own productions • Analyzes the elements of the context and shapes the text accordingly
• Examines the differences between producing texts for public and private spaces.
Participates both individually and collaboratively in different recursive phases of the production process
• Confers regularly with peers and teacher throughout the production process • Uses feedback strategies to improve own productions and support peers • Reflects on own development as a writer/producer over time
• Monitors own learning • Cultivates a variety of media and writerly practices • Explores a variety of avenues for wider publication
– Integrates elements of communication context
– Applies codes and conventions of different modes and genres
– Collaborates with peers to produce media texts
– Adapts process and strategies to the writing/production context
– Self-evaluates growth as a writer/producer
Québec Education Program
The student produces a range of selfselected and assigned texts with a balance of written, media, multimodal and multigenre texts from the required genres. The student draws from her/his repertoire to adopt roles that serve both personal and social functions, depending on the context, e.g. self in a journal, authority when writing about literature, eye-witness in a TV news program. The student characterizes an audience by identifying aspects such as age, gender and knowledge of the topic, and by using means such as polls, surveys, interviews and feedback conferences. Using this information, the student structures a text to suit the targeted audience. As well, s/he reworks a text intended for one audience to suit another, rewriting a newspaper article as a radio broadcast, storyboarding key scenes from a novel.
By tailoring texts to address the needs of a variety of audiences and by adopting different roles to suit the context, the student demonstrates understanding of the rhetorical nature of communication.
The student conducts research as a writer/ producer, locating, organizing and synthesizing relevant content information to create an authentic context, e.g.
background information to re-create a historical period/character, factual support for a news report or essay. S/he selects structures, features, codes and conventions to meet the demands of her/his chosen text in light of its context, and to achieve special effects, such as commentary over images in a news story or flashback to tell a story. The student has developed elements of a recognizable style, e.g.
affinity for certain themes and/or genres, use of humour, patterns of imagery. S/he adjusts media codes such as camera language, symbolic language and colour to best get her/his message across, e.g. using a close-up of a child’s hand reaching for a gun in a public service announcement. With knowledge gained from the immersion process into the required genres, s/he demonstrates what s/he knows about how sound, word and image work together to create meaning in her/his own productions.
› 50
Chapter 5
The student participates as a member of the classroom community and supports peers in the roles of writer/producer and audience member. S/he adapts process and strategies to suit a variety of contexts, including using resources such as group expertise and available technology, revision strategies such as checking the coherence between text and image, and sharing drafts with classmates.The student monitors her/his own work habits, e.g.
prioritizes tasks, organizes materials and respects deadlines. In regular conferences with peers and teacher, the student shows that s/he reflects about the text(s) s/he is producing. S/he describes choices and why s/he feels they are effective, e.g.
intentions for the text, risks taken, preferences as a writer/producer, and how these have changed over time. S/he contributes material to her/his Integrated
Profile, which includes a repertoire of texts that demonstrate aspects of her/his style, strategies used and evidence of work methods and practices, including written self-evaluations of certain texts and reflections on working collaboratively.

Competency in Production develops through the interaction of three dimensions: the nature and complexity of the communication context, the depth of students’ profiles, and their ability to reflect and self-monitor throughout the learning process. These three dimensions are neither linear nor hierarchical; rather, they are in constant interaction. Teachers may use the charts that follow to design teaching-learning situations that increase in complexity over the cycle, demand an active mobilization of resources to accomplish them adequately, and encourage the development of autonomy in students.
There are some common characteristics of the ELA classroom over the three years of the cycle that support the development of all three competencies in SELA2. These are described in the TLE Context and promote the type of classroom environment in which the development of the Production competency takes place.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 51
Chapter 5

Contexts for Communication: Producing Texts
The development of the ability to interrelate the elements of the production context requires multiple opportunities to produce a range of written, media and multimodal texts throughout the cycle. Teachers design learning situations in which both texts and contexts shift from the familiar to the unfamiliar, i.e. familiar text in new context, new text in familiar context. For example, as students work with an unfamiliar or more complex genre, they may have more success addressing a familiar topic and audience. Conversely, students can be encouraged to abstract a topic or take on a different role when working with a familiar genre. In these varied contexts, students learn to recombine and reorganize familiar contextual elements in new ways, as well as extend their repertoire.
Contextual
Elements
Genres
Year One
Familiar written genres, mainly planning and narrating
Familiar media genres, mainly news reporting and persuasion (advertising)
Introduction of less familiar genres (e.g.
argument) in a gradual and structured fashion
Choice of genre in negotiation with teacher
Topics
Audience
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Topics of personal significance and social interest
Exploration of community and social issues
Focus: elaboration and development of topics
Familiar audiences including self
Identification of characteristics of intended audience
Focus: identification of potential barriers to communication
All genres
Year Two
Balance between written, media and multimodal texts
Unfamiliar and/or more complex texts with teacher support, including multigenre texts
Choice of genre in negotiation with teacher
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Topics of personal significance and social interest
Exploration of issues from larger social and cultural worlds
All genres
Year Three
Balance between written, media and multimodal texts
Unfamiliar and more complex texts with teacher support, including multigenre texts
Deliberate choice of mode and genre to shape meaning and influence audience
See also Repertoire of Required Genres
Range of topics from the personal to the more social, cultural and political including those that present more intellectual challenges and require more extensive research
Focus: use of more abstract and in-depth approaches to topics
Focus: more challenging concepts, notions and subjects
Familiar audiences including self
Specific, less familiar audiences
Analysis of needs of intended audience
Balance of familiar and less familiar audiences
Focus: use of strategies to overcome barriers to communication
Generalization of characteristics of intended audience
Focus: extended strategies to shape text for audience
Québec Education Program
› 52
Chapter 5

Contextual
Elements
Genre conventions
Year One
Use of appropriate codes and conventions, with teacher support
Focus: introduction of text and language grammars, including organizational strategies
Writer/ producer’s stance
Stances based primarily on personal experience and knowledge
Focus: experimentation with various roles, rhetorical strategies and registers to achieve a purpose and engage an audience
Year Two
Use of codes and conventions for special effect, e.g. multigenre texts
Focus: extension of text and language grammars, and organizational strategies necessary to present more complex issues and produce more complex texts
Stances not limited to personal experience and knowledge, e.g. opposing views in a debate
Focus: use of roles, rhetorical strategies and register to suit purpose and audience expectations
Year Three
Manipulation of codes and conventions for specific effect, e.g. working against audience expectations
Focus: consolidation of text and language grammars, and organizational strategies to communicate in a variety of situations
Range of stances to suit context
Focus: deliberate selection of roles, rhetorical strategies and register to achieve a purpose and influence an audience
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 53
Chapter 5

Repertoire of Resources: Knowledge, Processes and Strategies › 54
Students draw from their repertoire when accomplishing tasks in various production contexts. In order to extend this repertoire over the cycle, teacher-modelling plays a pivotal role.
Chapter 5
The teacher constructs learning situations that encourage students to experiment with the strategies and techniques needed to produce increasingly more complex texts. Students’ profiles are deepened and enriched in a classroom environment conducive to risk-taking and trial and error, and one in which students learn from each other through regular feedback.
Processes and
Strategies
Immersion process: knowledge of the affordances of written and media language and of how genres work
Production process
Collaboration process
Research process
Québec Education Program
Year One Year Two Year Three
Text models that extend students’ repertoires
Identification of codes and conventions of genres by deconstructing their structures and features
Exploration of affordances of modes and familiar genres
Focus: development of criteria to judge a text based on an evaluation of effectiveness of codes and conventions
Teacher-modelling of production decisions in relation to context, e.g. choice of genre
Identification of media and writerly practices
Identification of available resources
Focus: teacher-modelling to reinforce familiar revision and media editing strategies to suit familiar production contexts
Text models that extend students’ repertoires
Examination of how different texts with the same social function use codes and conventions
Compare/contrast of affordances of modes and genres
Focus: use of models to guide production based on a comparison of codes and conventions of a variety of texts
Production decisions based on analysis of context
Compare/contrast of media and writerly practices
Selection of resources
Focus: teacher-modelling to extend revision and media editing strategies to suit new and more complex production contexts
Text models that extend students’ repertoires
Analysis of genres and how they function in different discourse communities, e.g. science
Evaluation of affordances of modes and genres
Focus: selection of specific models to guide production based on an intended purpose
Evaluation of production decisions in relation to context
Adaptation of process and practices
Adjustment of resources
Focus: consolidation of repertoire of reliable revision and media editing strategies to suit a variety of production contexts
See Competency 1 (Talk):
Development of the Competency
Strategies for collecting information to support a topic or position
See Competency 2 (Reading):
Development of the Competency
See Competency 1 (Talk):
Development of the Competency
Strategies for collecting and organizing information
See Competency 2 (Reading):
Development of the Competency
See Competency 1 (Talk):
Development of the Competency
Introduction of strategies to manage adult sources and specialized discourses
See Competency 2 (Reading):
Development of the Competency

Integration of Knowledge, Strategies and Processes
The teacher designs production contexts in which students mobilize the resources in their profile in an integrated fashion each time they produce a text. Of primary importance is the balance between action and reflection in the contexts in which students produce. In regular conferences, teachers encourage students to ask questions, to reflect, to explain the strategies they used and to evaluate their progress. Through these critical and ongoing conversations, students develop the strategies of autonomous learners who think for themselves, plan and carry out projects and monitor all the phases of their learning.
Integration
Feedback conferences
Self-evaluation
Autonomy
Year One Year Two Year Three
Questioning techniques to direct feedback conferences
Reflection on value of feedback
Focus: modelling strategies and techniques for giving and receiving feedback
Teacher-modelling of questioning and other self-evaluation techniques
Development of criteria for contents of Integrated Profile
Focus: description of production decisions, discussion of production strategies and preferences and their impact on production decisions
Modelling of planning and carrying out projects, e.g. recognition of production constraints
Investigation of publishing opportunities
Focus: reinforcement of basic strategies, e.g.
coming to class prepared, clarifying tasks and respecting deadlines
Student ownership of feedback conferences, with teacher support
Reflection on value of feedback
Focus: use of range of strategies and techniques for giving and receiving feedback
Development of the habit of self-questioning and other self-evaluation techniques
Development of criteria for contents of Integrated Profile
Focus: justification of production decisions, explanation of how production preferences and strategies have changed over time
Planning and carrying out projects, e.g. setting realistic goals and managing resources
Finding alternative uses for texts produced, alternative audiences
Focus: use of organizational strategies, e.g.
prioritization of tasks and organization of material
Student ownership of feedback conferences
Appreciation of peers as essential resource
Focus: giving and receiving constructive and insightful feedback
Development of metalanguage
Development of criteria for contents of Integrated Profile
Focus: ownership of self-evaluation process, students talking knowledgably about themselves as producers
Planning and carrying out projects, e.g. feasible scope and time management
Use of specific publishing opportunities
Focus: self-direction in most production tasks
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 55
Chapter 5

Please note that all the resources, strategies, processes and texts that follow are compulsory for the end of Cycle Two.
The required texts for production are listed in the chart called Repertoire of
Required Genres. The texts produced over the cycle emerge from specific contexts, which are drawn from students’ interests and experiences, and which also include activities from the Reading and Talk competencies.
Because this is a literacy program, with emphasis placed on how meaning is constructed, genre is by necessity at the forefront of production.
29
The context embodies the factors that influence all productions, i.e. why and how they are produced and interpreted. Throughout the cycle, students are involved in a variety of production contexts. These include individual production contexts, where students, in negotiation with the teacher, make their own production decisions; limited production contexts, where some decisions are already made such as genre or audience; and simulations, 30 in which the context is completely defined. In the latter case, students are assigned a specific role to complete a specific task, for example, as members of an editorial team designing the front page of a local newspaper to meet a deadline. As students work in different contexts, they deepen their understanding of how intricately related producer, topic and audience are in the meaning-making process.
Researching as a Writer/Producer 31
– Develops topics that are personally and socially relevant and that emanate from the broad areas of learning, 32 experiences in other disciplines, and activities in the Reading and Talk competencies:
• draws on repertoire of texts to make intertextual connections, e.g. a comic book featuring sports icons or own friends
Québec Education Program
• looks at multiple perspectives on the topic, e.g. pros and cons of an argument, how different people perceive the issue
• considers open-ended question(s) to facilitate topic development
• broadens and/or narrows the scope of the topic
• makes abstractions, e.g. from a more literal interpretation to a more figurative one; or from a more egocentric view to one that can be generalized
– Researches, with support, information related to a social, historical and/or cultural context: 33
• draws on the methodologies of a variety of disciplines to collect information, e.g. ethnography, historical method, scientific method
29. For example, if a student wants to promote the values of being bilingual in Québec, s/he may communicate her/his findings in any number of ways, including a talk show, an essay, a personal narrative, a sales pitch for immigration to this province, etc. In either case, her/his production context must be authentic, i.e. s/he has a real reason to learn, a real message to communicate, and a real audience to address.
30. Some other examples of simulations include students participating as members of a board to decide content and scheduling for a new television station with a “youth focus”; or students working as members of a nongovernment organization raising awareness about an environmental issue at an international conference.
31. See CCC 1: Uses information for guidelines regarding research strategies and processes.
32.
Career Planning and Entrepreneurship , in the broad areas of learning, also aims for students to articulate their passions, interests and talents and to translate these into viable projects, thereby helping students develop their creativity, initiative and potential. Many of these explorations may lead to the world of work and possible career choices which can be explored by students in their Professional Orientation Project (POP).
33. For example, as a student creates a family memoir, s/he uses ethnographic methodologies such as interviewing family members and analyzing traditions and artefacts. Or, if the student produces a text about the sixties, s/he researches such things as the peace movement, women’s liberation and issues of civil rights. Acting as a historian, s/he situates the events in the time they occurred and analyzes a variety of primary and secondary sources. With this contextual understanding the writer/producer represents people, places and times in an authentic way and supports her/his point of view credibly.
› 56
Chapter 5

• draws on own experiences to create authentic contexts, e.g. revisits childhood journals or toys to recreate the period
• consults a variety of sources (primary and secondary), e.g. art, history books, news clippings, interviews, author biographies
• see Competency 2 (Reading): Working With Information and Reader,
Text Context
• see Competency 1 (Talk): Inquiry Process and Independent Units of Study for information about initiating and planning projects and Repertoire of Resources: Strategies for Collecting Data
– Researches aspects of the media and publishing industries to best produce, market and distribute their products: 34
• investigates how texts are produced and under what conditions
• examines how a text is vetted, marketed and distributed by a producer to its target audience, e.g. how a book gets published, how a trend is created
• analyzes the impact of media ownership and convergence, e.g.
monopoly of news agencies and impact of chain bookstores in terms of what gets produced and what is censored
• examines how fans are cultivated and how they organize and communicate among themselves, e.g. fan Web sites for movies and music, bookstores hosting author readings and signings
– Respects rules related to copyright and intellectual property, e.g. gets permission from publisher to use a song in a video, cites sources properly in an essay
Constructing a Stance: 35 Assuming Roles as a Writer/Producer
Students produce texts for a range of different audiences, from the familiar to the more public. As the distance between the writer/producer and the topic and/or audience increases in time and space, new demands are made, specifically in terms of the rhetorical resources required to communicate effectively. By constructing a variety of stances, students adapt a repertoire of rhetorical resources, registers, and language requirements to suit different contexts.
– Adopts a stance to a topic and audience appropriate to the genre, e.g.
when in the role of a politician giving a speech, knows to convey sincerity to persuade the public to vote for her/him
Québec Education Program Languages
– Assumes a variety of roles, 36 e.g. takes on persona of a newscaster or scientist
– Considers who s/he represents, e.g. the beliefs and values of a company and/or an organization
– Adopts different points of view, e.g. first person, third person omniscient, second person and third person observer
– Experiments with active and passive voice, e.g. uses active voice to project a sense of reality or immediacy in recounting experiences
– Explores different dimensions of a character, issue, event, e.g. multiple voices in a narrative, bias in news writing.
37 See also Competency 2
(Reading): Reader, Text, Context
– Applies language conventions to establish relationships, e.g. using gestures to elicit sympathy; using statements, conditions and commands to imply control and power; tilting the camera up to show authority
– Experiments with register:
• adjusts register to the formality/informality of the context, e.g. uses academic language in an essay, jargon or slang in an advertisement
• establishes the tone, e.g. uses dispassionate tone of anchor on news report, intimate tone when writing in a journal
34. For example, students producing works of short fiction for a contest know the rules of the contest, research the style and layout of the publication as well as its readership, review previous winners and the types of works usually featured.
35. In the Production competency, “stance” is defined as the relationship a producer has to a topic and audience, as characterized by distance in time and space.
36. In writing, voice is a constructed representation of the roles we assume as writers, e.g. self in a journal, child in a story, expert in a report. As our experiences are multifaceted and ever changing, so too are our voices. As such, voice is never finished or static but develops over time and through different contexts. Since in constructing voices, we make decisions about what to reveal, in what context, to whom and for what reason, the boundaries between public and private space can appear to diminish. See Public and Private Space below.
37.
Health and Well-Being offers contexts for students to reflect on the effects of family, peer relationships, schooling and other influences on the choices they make and the values they hold and how these come through in their productions. As well, it offers opportunities for students to investigate the lifestyle choices of others, such as doping in sports, and to evaluate the consequences of such behaviours on the athletes themselves, their loved ones, as well as on the student’s own choices.
Secondary English Language Arts
› 57
Chapter 5

• exploits generic conventions, e.g. in a formal speech, takes advantage of appropriate dress code, body language and proximity; in a short story, creates a memorable character by having her/him speak directly to the audience in a regional dialect and sentence fragments
• plays against audience expectations for specific effect, e.g. uses humorous tone in essay on a serious topic, using an analytical tone in a personal reflection about being a teenager
Characterizing an Audience
In Production, audience has different implications for media and written texts. Media producers investigate the characteristics of a target audience and then shape their texts to influence that audience, e.g. to buy a product or idea, act in a certain way or change a way of thinking. Writers represent an audience in two ways: the “model reader” who is imagined throughout the writing process, and the reader “out there.” Whether producing media or written texts, students articulate who their audience is and how that knowledge helped them craft their text accordingly.
– Investigates how different target audiences use and respond to particular texts: 38
• identifies factors that constitute a target audience and evaluates how media texts are shaped to suit them
• collects data about audience’s text preferences by engaging in interviews, polls, surveys, peer feedback. See Competency 1 (Talk): Strategies for
Collecting Data, for more information about developing and preparing interviews and Social Practices of School and Community: Exploring a
Social World for ways of conducting this type of ethnography
• compares and contrasts own responses, reactions and use of texts with those of peers, family, other households and more distant audiences
• see Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities for information about understanding conditions of the human environment, and Media Literacy for information about the awareness of the place of different media in daily life and society
– Analyzes characteristics of audience for own productions:
• chooses an audience depending on context for production, e.g. topic, text, purpose
• draws on previous experience with audience
• generalizes factors such as age, gender, cultural background, race, location, level of education
• identifies potential barriers to communication, e.g. audiences’ level of knowledge of topic
• considers the relative status of producer and audience, e.g. same, higher, or lower
• analyzes the expectations of audience, e.g. the uses the audience will make of the text (for entertainment, for information, for escape), generic conventions
– Draws on audience reactions to shape own texts:
• explains possible reasons for the audience’s varying interpretations of a text, e.g. preferred readings (ideal audience in ideal situation) vs.
oppositional readings (alternative values). See Competency 2 (Reading):
Reader, Text, Context for more information about interpreting texts
• reinvests what s/he learns about audience in new productions, including experiences both responding to peer texts and listening to peer reactions to own productions
• redesigns a text intended for one audience to suit another, e.g. redesigns a film review aimed at young adults for their grandparents
38. These activities are designed to build knowledge about how different audiences respond to texts. Examples can include interviewing family members about their favourite TV shows, surveying peers about how they choose the books they read, or holding a focus group to examine how different generations view a marketing campaign. In working with primary sources, students learn how to analyze different sorts of information. In asking questions such as what an audience member’s initial reactions are, what they remembered or noticed and why, who they felt the audience was for the text, they can categorize those factors that can be generalized to the entire audience and those that cannot and explain why; thereby driving home the concept of “target” in target audience.
› 58
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

Public and Private Space
– Examines the difference between producing texts for private and public audiences:
• considers the uses of particular texts and whether they stay private or are published, e.g. journal, diary, letters
• questions issues of ownership, intellectual property, creative freedom, boundaries of genres, e.g. reality TV, memoir
• makes changes when producing texts for different audiences, e.g. what to reveal/omit, what stance to take, what language to use
• considers effect the medium has on a genre, e.g. reality TV’s pretence of intimacy, journalism as the arbiter of truth
– Analyzes competing social discourses such as family, peers, culture(s) and the media, e.g. writes a humourous essay on the irony of trying to be yourself and fit in at the same time; reporting on why certain books have been banned
– Exploits the boundaries of public and private spaces for effect, e.g. writes a fictionalized memoir, includes gossip in news report
– Reflects on the differences between producing texts for a private versus public audience, e.g. weighs “the public’s right to know” in journalism against a person’s right to privacy
Students continue to learn ways of using language to express their unique concerns, thoughts, views of the world and experiences. By examining a wide variety of texts, talking about how these texts are constructed, and practising a variety of techniques, students make decisions about how to use language effectively in different situations.
Immersion Into Texts
Immersion is central to this competency because it is the reading-production connection in action. Here, the reading that students do is very focused, as they investigate the codes and conventions of genres to apply them to their own productions. The immersion process, an inquiry guided by the teacher, is an ongoing conversation about how texts are constructed, the social purposes they serve and the effectiveness of the producer’s choices. Attention must be paid to the selection of a variety of stimulating texts, which also includes those produced within the classroom community.
– Reads and rereads more than one sample of the genre, individually or as a group
– Draws on prior literacy experiences with familiar texts to deconstruct them. See Competency 2 (Reading): Essential Reading Strategies
– Conducts a genre analysis: 39
• compares and contrasts texts within a social function, i.e. Why do people produce them? Who has access to these texts? Do they serve the same purpose? How do they communicate the values of a community?
• evaluates the structures, features, codes and conventions used
• evaluates the affordances of genre and mode, e.g. why a news article works better in a certain situation than a memoir
• examines how language (sound, word and image) is shaped:
- to represent and/or exclude people, events, ideas and information, e.g. constructing bias, creating characters
- to organize and develop ideas, e.g. using complex sentences and opening with the most important point in an essay
- for special effect, e.g., using sepia tones and melodramatic music to recreate another era
• see Competency 2 (Reading): Exchanges With Other Readers: Response
Processes in the Classroom and Reader, Text, Context
39. For example, students are immersed in public service announcements (PSA) to produce one of their own. PSAs are designed to elicit an emotional response in the audience and move them to act. As well, they have common text grammars such as narration, a memorable tag line and contact information. Depending on the purpose, such as fundraising for disaster relief, promoting an anti-smoking lifestyle or urging people to recycle, different techniques are used to grab the audience’s attention such as the use of arresting images, humour or pathos, use of black and white, statistics, music, voiceover, etc. Also, students evaluate why a PSA is more effective than other persuasive texts in accomplishing their purpose.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 59
Chapter 5

– Uses texts as models to guide production: 40
• refers to model text(s) throughout the production process
• creates criteria for guiding production, e.g. uses a list, rubric or chart to show features of an effective advertisement or debate
• identifies specific structures and features to reproduce own interests, purpose and audience
Applying Codes and Conventions
All texts are produced for specific social functions and are limited and defined by the expectations of a given community, i.e. they have their own grammars. For example, a letter used to urge a Member of Parliament to change a policy (persuasion) features different codes and conventions than a letter used to inform parents about upcoming events at the school (report).
Since grammar is about language-in-use, being able to apply the appropriate codes and conventions of genres in a variety of situations is a powerful resource. Therefore, grammar is taught explicitly in the context of students’ own productions: 41 this way, it is grounded in the ways they actually use language both in and out of school, now and in the future.
– Applies conventions of the genre, i.e. uses the appropriate textual and linguistic grammars:
• chooses textual structures and features, e.g. in an argumentative essay, there is an introduction with a statement of thesis or position, some elaboration or contextualization of the topic; a development including an articulation and elaboration of the main points, with supporting evidence and illustration, and a logical ordering of information and ideas; a conclusion which restates the position, makes recommendations and generalizes to the human condition
• chooses linguistic codes and conventions, e.g. in an argument, using language that is precise, factual and/or technical to create a sense of credibility and authority; and using conventions such as a timeless present tense and passive voice to make the text seem more objective and formal
• see the chart Repertoire of Required Genres for the genres students produce and Competency 1 (Talk): Affordances of Genres for more information about codes and conventions
Québec Education Program
– Combines and/or manipulates codes and conventions of specific genres for special effects (multigenre texts), e.g. using script conventions to develop an argument
– Combines and/or manipulates codes and conventions of different modes
(multimodal texts), e.g. the PSA draws on conventions of sound, word and image. It uses music to appeal to the emotions, includes a voiceover of a well-known person to draw attention to the cause and uses images to shock or jar the audience
– Transforms one genre to another, e.g. uses newspaper articles to create a radio newscast or uses main conflict from a novel to create a talk show
– Transforms texts s/he has already produced and/or uses own texts in a new way
– Explores the representation of gender, race, appearance, culture, social class, e.g. draws on codes and conventions to enhance some voices and silence others
– Adopts ethical standards in own productions, e.g. uses language ethically and responsibly, censors own texts
40. For example, students producing a graphic short story consult model texts to try out different ways of using image to tell the story, laying out the images and words, using colour effectively, developing their characters, using recurring symbols, indicating the passage of time and/or change of locations.
41. Some strategies to support this include: immersion into texts/models, mini-lessons, feedback on drafts or in conferences, inquiry into resources such as style books in the classroom, and teacher and peer modelling throughout the production process.
› 60
Chapter 5

Makes effective word choices to represent ideas, people, things, events, experiences
Selects appropriate strategies to structure and organize a text
Uses a variety of strategies to develop ideas in the text
Genre specific
Written Codes and Conventions
Using words that are genre appropriate, e.g. experimenting with the conventions of idiom and dialect in a short story; using modals such as should in persuasion; using technical vocabulary in an explanation
Vocabulary repertoire Expands vocabulary through own productions, e.g. by using models, class discussion, trial-and-error, resources such as dictionaries, thesauruses
Metalanguage Develops a metalanguage or uses the vocabulary of this discipline, e.g. to discuss texts and own work and progress
Specialized vocabularies
Coherence/ sequencing
Syntax
Cohesion
Formatting & presentation cues
Leads
Elaboration
Support
Uses other discourses (scientific statistics, historical facts, philosophical theories), e.g. research for a newscast or essay
Establishes the inner logic of how ideas are organized, e.g. showing relationships between ideas, ordering and prioritizing details, establishing chronology, cause and effect, classification
Ordering words to construct meaning, e.g. using sentence variety, clauses to extend thinking
Coordinating parts to the whole, e.g. using transitions, conjunctions, punctuation, paragraphing
Using print codes to visually cue the reader’s attention, e.g. in a monologue, using italics and ellipses points to indicate inner thoughts; or using subheadings, title page, glossary, table of contents, bibliography in an essay
Uses strategies to engage the audience, e.g. asking a question, telling a personal anecdote, setting up suspenseful action
Uses features to add depth and detail, e.g. character description, definitions, dialogue, contextualizing the setting and giving background information
Uses a variety of features to substantiate ideas, e.g. paraphrasing, visuals and statistics, expert opinion, case study, reasoning and logic
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 61
Chapter 5

Layout
Sound
Image
Sign
Québec Education Program
Media Codes and Conventions
Visual arrangement of all elements (e.g. titles, text, captions, graphics) on a page, poster, brochure, Web page, article, print advertisement etc., in order to make them eye-catching and effective in conveying their message(s)
Direct sound
Dubbed sound
Live sound recorded at the same time as the video
Sound added to production
Voiceover/narration
Sound effects
Commentary added to production
Represents action or ambiance to situate the listener/viewer in a context, e.g. wind blowing, glass breaking
Music
Camera shot
Helps set the mood and establish pacing
– Establishing shot (extreme long shot that establishes where the action is taking place)
– Long shot (shows full body of subject and most of the surroundings)
– Medium shot (shows subject from waist up and some surroundings)
– Close-up (shows small part of subject in detail, e.g. person’s face)
How the camera is angled, e.g. when the camera is tilted up, the subject looks powerful Angle
Movement – Pan left/right (the sweep of the camera to follow action)
– Zoom in/out (the camera lens zooms in from a long shot to a close-up to focus in on action or emotion; or zooms out from a close-up to a long shot to show the context)
The arrangement of people and objects within a frame Composition
Transitions – Cut (one shot ends and another begins immediately)
– Fade in/out (the shot gradually appears or disappears to a black screen)
– Dissolve (the shot fades into the next shot)
Helps create atmosphere, e.g. dark lighting and shadows are often used in horror films Lighting
Colour
Editing
The use of red font for a title connotes anger, e.g. the use of sepia tones in a photo to ’age’ it
Juxtaposition of shots, e.g. quick cuts or visual montages to indicate the passage of time, cropping of images
The inclusion of signs and symbols to signify something larger, e.g. dove = peace; large diamond ring = wealth; maple leaf = Canadiana
› 62
Chapter 5

Develops Style
By experimenting with a variety of stylistic techniques and sharing their work regularly with peers, over time, students develop a recognizable way of using language, both individually and in group productions. See CCC 4: Uses creativity for more information on taking risks, finding new ways to use resources and imagining possibilities.
– Integrates new and familiar codes and conventions into own productions in a variety of ways
– Extends repertoire of stylistic techniques, i.e. takes risks, experiments with new features for special effect
– Transfers knowledge gained from previous work into new productions
– Accepts and gives recommendations from/to peers and teacher, e.g. about style, voice, texts, topics
– Recognizes elements of own, peers’ and others’ styles:
• identifies differences between own stylistic choices and those of peers and others
• evaluates impact of own and peers’ stylistic choices to revise own texts
• develops preferences as a writer/producer of texts
– Develops an appreciation of the uniqueness of own style:
• compares own style to that of other writers/producers, including peers and teacher
• recognizes strong points of peers’ style, praises and supports them
• identifies and reflects on own uses of style when sharing Integrated
Profile (includes talking about collaborative projects). See Competency 1
(Talk): Integrated Profile: Showing the Competencies in Action
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 63
Chapter 5

The production of texts involves a process that is recursive rather than linear. While much of the writing process is completed individually with the support of the teacher and peers, media productions are collaborative in nature. With both, students need the time to think, plan, draft, talk about writing and production choices and adjust their ideas. They develop ownership by constructing their own production contexts, monitoring their own learning and reflecting on their progress. By getting regular feedback from the teacher and peers, students become more conscious of what works and what doesn’t. This knowledge motivates them to apply revision and media-editing strategies to best engage their audience. Through many opportunities to produce a variety of texts, students develop a unique set of practices that work best for them.
42
Media Practices Writerly Practices
The culture of the media industry involves practices that are not evident by simply viewing finished texts. These practices are responsible for, among other things, why certain news items appear the way they do and how target audiences are selected. Students cultivate these practices through research; by interviewing people who work in the media industry, participating in simulations (structured activities that approximate “real” media conditions) and reflecting on what they have learned, e.g. through class and small group discussions and media logs.
– Examines issues of media ownership and control, e.g. convergence, censorship
– Manages resources, e.g. financial constraints, available technologies
– Manages production constraints, e.g. time line, deadline, group roles and responsibilities
– Respects legal constraints, e.g. language laws, copyright
– See also Writer/Producer, Text and Context
– Respects genre constraints, e.g. format, layout, target audience’s expectations, industry standards such as time allotment
– Examines impact of production roles on final text, e.g. editor’s decisions
Identifying oneself as a writer, and joining a culture of writers, involves establishing rituals and cultivating behaviours. The teacher, peers and other authors are powerful models in this respect. The development of writerly practices involves not only sharing one’s work but also how it was accomplished. For this reason writers have much to learn from each other— sources of inspiration and strategies to overcome writer’s block and manage the creative process.
– Writes for sustained periods of class time 43
– Develops work habits such as keeping a writer’s notebook/journal, recording observations and ideas for writing
– Creates own rituals, e.g. idiosyncrasies such as favourite pencils or types of journals; listens to music when writing
– Reflects on the conditions under which s/he works best and how these affect her/his writing, e.g. noise level, environment, being alone
– Reads other writers’ thoughts on writing and the creative process
– Discusses writerly practices regularly, e.g. how s/he adapts them to suit different contexts
42. Students need not complete the production process for all the texts they undertake. Some may end up as journal entries, rough drafts or class modelling activities; many may be part of the processes of other competencies. What is important is that students are actively involved in selecting the texts to develop into final drafts.
43. The use of class time depends on the students’ own needs regarding the text in progress. The teacher supports students by immersing them in texts/models, conducting mini-lessons, demonstrating writing or production strategies and conferencing.
Québec Education Program
› 64
Chapter 5

Planning and Drafting
– Brainstorms ideas, clarifies and extends thinking by talking with peers and teacher
– Uses strategies to work out ideas, plan and draft, e.g. concept map, freewriting, storyboard
– Develops expertise in manipulating resources, e.g. different ways to arrange images or add sound to video, degrees of specificity in using an outline
– Develops self- and group-monitoring strategies, such as creating rubrics/ checklists, managing time and workload and meeting deadlines. See CCC 5:
Adopts effective work methods
– Makes preparations prior to production, e.g. practises using technical resources, rehearses with group members
– Uses different available ICT 44 in order to draft own texts, e.g. shoots video footage, takes photographs
– Evaluates material gathered and decides on its use, e.g. reviews video footage for best shots
Revision 45 of Written Texts/Editing of Media Texts Feedback 46
– Uses editing strategies, e.g. creating editing checklists; with multimedia texts, lays out visual elements first, adds sound and narration afterward
– Uses techniques to indicate changes for drafts, e.g. cutting and pasting, crossing out, using symbols or arrows
– Previews text with sample audience—self, peers and/or teacher, e.g. rereads often, reads aloud to self or others, makes informal presentations
– Adjusts texts to meet audience’s expectations
– Develops a metalanguage based on feedback, e.g. self-questioning: Does the text say what I want it to? Is it clear? Am I missing anything?
– Uses revision strategies to clarify intended meaning(s)/message(s), e.g.
adding details, experimenting with techniques, changing points of view
– Makes ready use of resources, e.g. rereads text models, uses group expertise, style manual or thesaurus, ICT, text models
– Attends to clarity and presentation style when finalizing draft(s)
– Confers regularly and throughout the production process with teacher and peers about works in progress
– Collaborates in group and individual feedback sessions, e.g. peer-response groups, student editorial boards
– Uses strategies for giving feedback, e.g. asks questions, gives suggestions, praises strong elements
– Understands that feedback focuses on intended meaning(s)/message(s)
– Seeks specific feedback, e.g. identifies specific needs, shares drafts with peers and teacher who serve as target audience to overcome barriers to communication, welcomes constructive feedback
– Uses selective feedback to improve text
– Evaluates the texts of others using agreed-upon criteria
44. See CCC 6: Uses information and communications technologies for more specific information about using appropriate technologies and taking full advantage of these technologies in their productions.
45. Revision is a dynamic process that focuses on meaning. With media productions, this is referred to as editing a text. This process can be straightforward or complex, depending on the degree of sophistication of the text and the context. Therefore, students will not revise each text the same way or to the same extent, e.g. they may have more facility revising conventional narrative texts, but argumentative texts and/or texts that report may prove more challenging. Students need to have the opportunity to rework and resubmit productions throughout the term, including adapting existing pieces into new works.
46. See Health and Well-Being in the broad areas of learning, as its focus of development on self-awareness is emphasized here as a successful classroom community relies on all students feeling accepted and valued. By sharing and critiquing one another’s work, students learn to stand up for themselves and to respect others.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 65
Chapter 5

Reflection 47
– Evaluates production process and texts produced, with group and individually
– Develops a metalanguage for talking about self as a writer/producer
– Participates in teacher-student and peer conferences with an explicit focus:
• discusses development of her/his writing/production profile, e.g. traces history of own productions and preferences over time, how s/he learned to write, own attitudes toward writing, role of writing/producing in own life
• reflects on common issues/themes in own productions over time, i.e. why they are recurrent and how they have changed or become more complex
• discusses techniques and strategies used and decisions made to produce texts
• talks about ways that peer/teacher feedback influences own choices
• talks about own revision/media editing strategies, e.g. dealing with constraints, trial and error, strategies to engage audience
• makes reading/production connections between texts in own Integrated
Profile, e.g. talks about how own productions reflect understanding of other texts
• sets attainable individual and collaborative goals for future projects
– Maintains, organizes and shares an Integrated Profile that includes representations of her/his development as a producer of written and media texts, e.g. media and written texts produced, media log / writer’s notebook, audience profiles. See Competency 1 (Talk): Contents of the Integrated Profile
– Reflects on the differences between working collaboratively and alone:
• examines the impact on creativity, e.g. choice of topic and text, use of individual talents, value of “group think,” innovation in the ways that ideas and techniques are combined
• considers issues of ownership, e.g. compromising, recognizing that one’s contribution is part of the whole and that credit is shared, learning to let go of one particular vision
• discusses issues of freedom, e.g. being responsible to the group by following assigned roles, deadlines and a negotiated plan, making time to attend meetings, accepting the rejection of one’s ideas
• see Personal and Career Planning in the broad areas of learning for information about reflecting on strengths and limitations, the adoption of strategies and the development of ownership over own work.
Going Public
– Chooses most suitable ICT to present production, e.g. PPT ® presentation,
CD-ROM, etc.
– Makes final adjustments before presentation, e.g. adjusts volume, doublechecks that links work on Web page, equipment is cued, written texts are proofread, speech notes are in order, visual aids are clear and accessible
– Presents text to intended audience:
• class, e.g. a class magazine, wall displays, class presentations
• school, e.g. yearbook, other classes, school newsletter, student literary festival
• community, e.g. youth publications, contests, public officials, Webauthoring programs, community news station
– Represents text to a different audience, e.g. reformulates texts to present at occasions such as parent-teacher conferences, school assemblies, presentations to younger students at another school
47. See CCC 7: Achieves her/his potential.
› 66
Chapter 5
Québec Education Program

Affordances: the distinctive potentials or possibilities offered by specific genres and modes, in a given context, to represent intended meanings/ messages. See also Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age .
Context: i) the teaching-learning-evaluating environment or situation, e.g. classroom or a specific learning-evaluation situation (LES); ii) the environment or situation in which communication takes place, involving a particular set of relations among producer, reader and meaning(s)/message(s) rendered via specific genre(s) and mode(s); and iii) the environment or situation in which texts are produced and in which they are interpreted.
Discourse: language used for the purposes of communication, giving expression to the social context and conditions in which it is interpreted and understood. For example, communities distinguish themselves by creating a discourse that identifies members of that community and their relationship(s) to one another, including shared knowledge, customs and genres that perform particular functions. Everyday examples include the medical, academic and educational communities.
Ethnography: a form of research, related to anthropology and the practice of fieldwork. Its aim is to document and interpret a wide range of people and their worlds, and its methods include observations, questions, comparisons, and so on.
Genre: a text defined in terms of its social function(s). Texts may draw on a single language, or mode of representation, as is the case in many literary texts. Or, a text may be multimodal; for example, the newspaper is a multimodal text that combines images and words to produce feature stories, classified ads, etc. As different communities produce texts over a period of time, they take on specific structures, features, codes and conventions, e.g.
a fantasy novel is constructed quite differently than a romance. The discovery of new knowledge can also engender particular ways of structuring texts and of presenting information, as is the case with writing in different fields of study, such as the sciences. Finally, some modern texts, including the novel, may also fall into the category of multigenre, e.g. contemporary fiction may include letters, poetry or visuals; too, elements of several literary genres such as mystery, romance and science fiction may be found in a single text. (See also Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis (eds) Multiliteracies ; Alan Luke, The Social
Construction of Literacy in the Classroom ; and Gunther Kress, Literacy in the
New Media Age .)
Integrated Profile: a concept based on the principle that the development of competency, knowledge and skills in SELA2 become evident only over time. The Integrated Profile is a “moving portrait” of the student’s learning throughout Cycle Two. It is “integrated” insofar as it contains evidence of the student working in contexts where the language arts are integrated, i.e.
the three competencies of the SELA2 program are called upon in an integrated way. The actual form the profile takes is at the discretion of the teacher, but it is organized and maintained by the student. Sample forms of an Integrated Profile include speaking, reading and production folders, a collection of integrated projects, a portfolio.
Language: the different representational modes of word, image, sign, sound, gesture and body language, as well as hybrid combinations, such as word and image, word and sign, image and gesture, etc. (See also Gunther Kress,
Literacy in the New Media Age ).
Register: a set of features of speech or writing characteristic of a particular type of linguistic activity or a particular group when engaging in it, e.g. the style, choice of vocabulary, tone and nonverbal gestures of an election speech differs from the register of a conversation between two friends. In other words, a register is selected in response to a specific context.
Rhetoric: the art of effective speaking or writing, of influencing an audience; the study of the effective use of language.
Rhetorical strategies: devices used by speaker/producer to influence an audience, e.g. emotional appeals
Structure & features: the structure of a spoken, written and/or media text includes features such as codes, conventions, rhetorical devices and other elements proper to the genre and/or mode(s) of representation in which it is rendered, i.e. their grammars.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 67
Chapter 5

Semantics: the study of word meaning, growth and modification; for example, semantic patterns refer to the patterns of meaning in a language.
Also, the relationship words, sounds and/or images have to things and states of affairs as we experience them.
Stance: the relationship of a speaker/reader/producer to a text. See also
Competency 2 (Reading) and Competency 3 (Production.)
Style: a characteristic manner of expression, including diction, figures of speech, rhythmic patterns of language, sentence structure and rhetorical devices and their effects.
Tone: the attitude to the subject matter and to the audience implied in the language of a spoken, written or media text.
Target audience: a specified audience or demographic group for which a media production is designed. Involves determining the characteristics of the target audience/group (e.g. their attitudes, interests, habits, degree of expertise, expectations, preferences) as a key step in the production process.
See also Competency 3 (Production).
Usage: language choices or behaviours; the changing fashions of
“correctness” within societies.
Québec Education Program
› 68
Chapter 5

Barton, D., Mary Hamilton and Roz Ivanic.
Situated Literacies: Reading and
Writing in Context.
New York: Routledge, 2000.
Christie, Frances and J.R. Martin, eds.
Genre and Institutions: Social Processes in the Workplace and School.
London: Continuum, 2000.
Cope, Bill and Mary Kalantzis. eds.
Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the
Design of Social Futures.
London and New York: Routledge, 2000.
_______.
The Powers of Literacy: A Genre Approach to Teaching Writing.
Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993.
Dunn, Patricia A.
Talking, Sketching, Moving: Multiple Literacies in the
Teaching of Writing.
Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers Inc., 2001.
Freire, Paulo.
Education for Critical Consciousness.
New York: The Continuum
Publishing Company, 1998.
Kress, Gunther.
Literacy in the New Media Age.
London & New York:
Routledge, 2003.
Lee, Carol D. and Peter Smagorinsky, eds.
Vygotskian Perspectives on Literacy
Research: Constructing Meaning Through Collaborative Inquiry.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Martin, J. R.
Factual Writing: Exploring and Challenging Social Reality.
Geelong, Australia: Deakin University, 1985.
Moffet, James.
Teaching the Universe of Discourse.
Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann, 1983.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Ruqaiya Hasan.
Language, Context and Text: Aspects of Language in a Social-Semiotic Perspective.
Geelong, Australia: Deakin
University, 1985.
Hymes, Dell.
Ethnography, Linguistics, Narrative Inequality.
London: Taylor &
Francis, 1996.
Kress, Gunther.
Linguistic Processes in Sociocultural Practice.
Geelong,
Australia: Deakin University, 1985.
Vygotsky, L. S.
Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological
Processes.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978.
_______.
Thought and Language.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962.
Australia. Curriculum Corporation.
Teaching Viewing and Visual Texts: Secondary.
Victoria: Prepared by Robyn Quin, Rod Quin and Barrie McMahon, 1996.
Buckingham, David and Julian Sefton-Green.
Cultural Studies Goes to School.
Bristol, PA: Taylor & Francis, 1994.
Kress, Gunther R. and Theo Van Leeuwen.
Reading Images: The Grammar of
Visual Design.
London: Routledge, 1995.
Québec Education Program Languages Secondary English Language Arts
› 69
Chapter 5

Bakhtin, M.M.
Speech Genres and Other Late Essays.
Translated by Veronica
Gee. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986.
_______.
The Dialogic Imagination.
Translated by Carolyn Emerson and
Michael Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981.
Eco, Umberto.
The Role of the Reader.
Bloomington: Indiana University
Press, 1984.
Green, Bill. ed.
Metaphors and Meanings: Essays On English Teaching by
Garth Boomer.
Kensington Gardens, SA: Australian Association for
Teaching of English (AATE), 1988.
Rosenblatt, Louise M.
The Reader the Text the Poem.
London and Amsterdam:
Southern Illinois University Press, 1978.
Barnes, Douglas.
From Communication to Curriculum.
Harmondsworth, UK:
Penguin, 1976.
Barnes, Douglas and Frankie Todd.
Communication and Learning Revisited:
Making Meaning Through Talk.
Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook
Publishers, Inc., 1995.
Boal, Augusto.
Games for Actors and Non-Actors.
New York: Routledge, 1992.
Elbow, Peter.
Everyone Can Write: Essays Toward a Hopeful Theory of Writing and Teaching Writing.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Greene, Maxine.
Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts and Social Change.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1995.
Hornbrook, David.
Education and Dramatic Art.
2nd edition. London:
Routledge, 1998.
Shultz, Kathleen.
Listening: A Framework for Teaching Across Differences. New
York: Teachers College Press, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2003.
Wells, Gordon ed.
Action, Talk and Text: Learning and Teaching Through
Inquiry.
New York: Teachers College, Columbia University, 2001.
Québec Education Program
Association of Teachers of English in Quebec (ATEQ)
<http://www.nald.ca/ateq>
Canadian Council of Teachers of English Language Arts:
<http://www.cctela.ca/>
International Reading Association (IRA)
<http://www.reading.org/>
Media Awareness Network:
<http://www.media-awareness.ca/>
National Council of Teachers of English:
<http://www.ncte.org/>
Quebec English School Network (QESN)
<http://www.qesnrecit.qc.ca>
› 70
Chapter 5